And Then There Were None
by The Inspector
Summary: When everything is crashing down around you, who do you trust? 12 started out. One of them is the killer. And the killer won't stop until there is only One. Based on the novel And Then There Were None, by Agatha Cristie. Character Death
1. Getting There

And Then There Were None

By The Inspector

**Chapter One:** Getting There

Disclaimer: I don't own YuGiOh and I don't own the book And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. So please don't sue me.

.

Seto Kaiba leaned against the window of his private jet and looked out. The town below was quaint, an old fishing town that had never strayed far from its roots. Seto ignored the blinking curser on his computer screen to watch the scenery.

Maybe Mokuba was right. He needed a break and the invitation to Indian Island had come at the perfect time. It was a high profile place, from what he could tell. And in these months where storms crept up unexpectedly, the place was sure to be practically empty. Meaning peace and quiet. He could use that.

Sighing, Seto tucked the letter from Ulick Norman Owen into his pocket and closed his eyes for a quick nap.

Bakura glanced away from the road for a minute to check on his hikari. The boy was still asleep, his head resting against his seatbelt, lulled to sleep by the motion of the car. Bakura reached over and pulled the blanket further up Ryou's neck.

Bakura had noticed that his fragile hikari had seemed quieter lately and so when they got the invite to Indian Island, Bakura had decided to take Ryou there. Run by an Ulick Norman Owen, Bakura was sure that Ryou could spend their time there sleeping and distressing.

If he hadn't been forbidden to send any more mortals to the Shadow Realm, Bakura would have sent Ryou's English teacher there long ago. She had been loading her students up with so much work that is was seriously frying Ryou's brain. Juggling school and his newly physical Yami had taken it's toll, but Bakura was sure that this vacation was just what Ryou needed.

.

Yugi laughed as he watched Honda chase Jou up and down their car, shouting something about taking revenge for a stolen sandwich. The other passengers on the train smiled at them and the occasional old woman would grin and mention something about boys being boys, lost in the memory of her own children.

Anzu clucked her tongue and shook her head. "I don't think they will ever grow up," she said to the woman sitting next to her.

"Oh dear," the woman replied with a smile, "They never do."

Yugi turned his attention back to the card game he was playing with Yami, peering at his other over his cards. This vacation was a wonderful idea. Yugi had gotten the free tickets to the resort in the mail and had invited his friends and Yami to come along. He couldn't remember what contest he had entered that had won him the tickets, but evidently the offer from Ulick Norman Owen was genuine and he couldn't complain.

"Got any eights?"

"Go fish!"

.

Isis looked out the window and then peered up at the clock. The guests would be arriving in a few hours and she still had so much work to do. Rishid did all he could to help, but the truth was that there was enough work for four people.

If only Malik and Ishtar weren't so useless. The day before she had sent them outside to cut wood for the stove and Rishid had ended up having to restrain Malik before he hacked his Yami's head off.

Still, it was honest, good work. Ulick Norman Owen had paid them upfront and had allowed them to live there while they worked. Now they were about to have their first guests. Mr. Owen's letter informed them to expect eight people.

"Isis?"

Isis jumped and looked up to see Rishid standing in the doorway.

"Is something wrong?"

"No," Isis said quickly, "It's nothing." But she couldn't hide anything from the person who had grown up with her as an older brother.

"It won't show me anything," she admitted, touching the Sennen Item around her neck. "It worries me." She shivered and looked out across the water to the main land. "It worries me."

.

TBC

Author's Note: Yes, I know that the book only has ten people, but I couldn't choose which people to not include, so I used my artistic license and expanded the number.


	2. Accused, First Death

And Then There Were None

By The Inspector

**Chapter Two:** Accused, First Death

Disclaimer: All standard disclaimers apply. Don't sue me.

.

Seto stood up in the boat, despite the protest of the pilot, to get a better look at Indian Island. It was further away from the mainland than he had expected. And smaller, too. Rocks formed a barrier around the island except for on the south side where it slopped down to the sea. A grand four story house and garden where the only things on the island.

"It must be difficult to get to the island in bad weather," Seto commented, looking skeptically at the small patch of shore.

"Indian Island can get cut off for a week when the weather is bad," the pilot agreed.

Seto jumped out of the boat as soon as it docked and walked up the trail to the house. The sea breeze was cool and fresh on his face and Seto was almost able to relax.

But when Isis and Rishid greeted him at the door, every feeling of calm vanished and suspicion tensed his body. "What are you doing here?" Seto hissed.

"We work here," Isis replied calmly, though her insides where churning. She couldn't name what she felt was wrong, all she could tell was that something ominous seemed to lurk just out of her reach of understanding. She shook her head one and smiled at the skeptical boy. "Come, Rishid will take your bags and show you to your room."

Seto followed Rishid into the house and down the halls, his sharp eyes darting to every corner, ready for an attack. The house was all dark wood and dark curtains with plenty of shadowed hiding places. He heard the heavy thunder of running feet over head and looked up in time to see Malik running away from his yami. So they had brought the whole circus. It did not reassure him.

Seto paused on the second flight of stairs to look out the window and saw that outside dark clouds had begun to gather. He could see bright flashes of lightening still caught in the clouds and the first drops of rain. A storm then, a bad one.

"This is your room," Rishid said, unlocking a door and handing Seto the key. "Dinner is in an hour. Ring if you need anything."

Seto pushed open the door and inspected the room. It was clean, at least, passing even his standards on that. It was decorated very old fashioned though, with a large canopy bed dominating most of the space. "No electricity," Seto mumbled when he saw the three pronged candle holder on the bed stand. He wasn't going to get any work done then, his computer was useless.

There was a fireplace on the other side of the room and Seto saw a clock made of white marble in the shape of a bear on the mantle. Over it hung a framed square of parchment with a poem written on it.

_Twelve little Duel Monsters came from Heaven  
One denounced it and then there were Eleven_

_Eleven little Duel Monsters playing in the den  
One lost a bet and then there where Ten_

_Ten little Duel Monsters went out to dine  
One choked his little self and then there were Nine_

_Nine little Duel Monsters sat up very late  
One overslept and then there were Eight_

_Eight little Duel Monsters traveling to Devon  
One decided to stay and then there were Seven_

_Seven little Duel Monsters chopping up sticks  
One chopped himself in halves and then there were Six_

_Six little Duel Monsters playing with a hive  
A bumblebee stung one and then there were Five_

_Five little Duel Monsters running across the floor  
One slipped and fell and then there were Four_

_Four little Duel Monsters going out to sea  
A herring swallowed one and then there were Three_

_Three little Duel Monsters walking in the Zoo  
A bear hugged one and then there were Two_

_Two little Duel Monsters sitting in the sun  
One got burned up and then there was One_

_One little Duel Monster left all alone  
He went and hanged himself and then there were none_

Seto grimaced; Fairy Tales and children's poetry was so violent. Shaking his head, Seto left his room and looked down over the banister. On the first floor, he could see that the other guests had arrived. Then his eyes narrowed. He'd know that ridicules hair anywhere. Yami and Yugi. And all their stupid friends, from the look of it.

"He's angry."

Seto's head shot up and he saw Malik standing close by, leaning over the railing to get a better look at the others. Ishtar was standing at his side, clasping his hands behind his back as though restraining himself from throwing Malik over the side.

"Who's angry?" Seto asked.

Malik laughed, a grating noise, and pointed down. "Bakura. He doesn't like his hikari's little friends."

Seto looked to where Malik was pointing. Sure enough, Bakura had a scowl on his face and a firm grip on Ryou's arm, preventing him from going to speak to his friends. "What are they all doing here?" Seto asked aloud. "Is it just coincidence?"

"Don't know, don't know," Ishtark said, grinning with full teeth showing. "Interesting, yes, yes?" He nodded and beamed at Seto. "Yes."

Seto had not expected a warm welcome when he appeared for dinner, and he was not disappointed.

"Kaiba!" Jou shouted, jumping to his feet, "What are you doing here?"

"I happen to be on vacation," Seto snapped, sitting down in the free seat next to Anzu. "And I got here before you, Mutt, so can it."

"Look, Yami!" Yugi said loudly, trying to divert the growing fight between Jou and Seto. He picked up a ceramic figure from the table. "They're Duel Monsters, just like in the poem in my room."

"The poem is in my room too," Ryou said.

"Mine too," everyone chorused.

"And hey," Jou said, his anger at Seto forgotten. "There's one that's representing each of us."

Indeed, the figures on the table included two Dark Magicians, a Blue Eyes White Dragon, a Cyber Commander, and dainty Magician of Faith, a pair of Winged Dragons of Ra, a Flaming Swordsman, two Changes of Heart, a snake-like Embodiment of Opopis, and a Zorgoth. Twelve, just like in the poem.

The rest of dinner was oddly pleasant. Yugi and his friends held the loudest of the conversation, but Malik and Ishtar included Seto in their conversation with their older siblings while Ryou and Bakura talked quietly to each other.

After dinner everyone went into the drawing-room for dessert and coffee. Isis had just handed Ishtar the fist slice of Angle Food Cake and was reaching for the coffee tray when there was a crackle and then a booming Voice, inhuman and chilling, that penetrated the very souls of those present.

"_Silence,"_ the Voice hissed.

Everyone was startled and began looking around for the source of the Voice. Was it coming from the walls?

"_You have been charged with the following murders,"_ the Voice continued.  
_Ryou Bakura, for the murder of your sister Amane Bakura  
__Yami Bakura, for the murder of Pegasus J. Crawford  
__Hiroto Honda for the murder of your nephew Johji  
__Isis Ishtar, for the murder of Professor Bey  
__Malik Ishtar, for the murder of Mayu Satoru  
__Rishid Ishtar, for the murder of Daisuke Akashi  
__Yami Ishtar, for the murder of the father of your hikari, Master Ishtar  
__Seto Kaiba, for the murder of your adopted father Gozabura Kaiba  
__Katsuya Jounouchi, for the murder of student Haku Zabuza  
__Anzu Mazaki, for the murder of the Fumika Hibiya  
__Yugi Mutou, for the murder of Minami Sano  
__Yami Yugi, for the murder of student Goro Inogashira  
__Prisoners at the bar, how do you plead?_

The Voice stooped and there was a moment of petrified silence before a resounding crash made everyone jump. Anzu had dropped her coffee cup.

"Outrageous," Seto hissed between his clenched teeth.

"Who was that?" Yami sprang to his feet and began looking around the room for the source of the Voice. Seconds later, Jou and Honda got up to help him. Anuz stayed on the couch with Yugi, rubbing his hands, trying to get some color back into his face. On the other side of the room Ryou had begun to cry and had buried his face into Bakura's shirt.

"Is this some kind of sick practical joke?" Jou yelled in frustration.

Seto strode to the closest door and yanked it open. "I think I found the source," he said. Before him, right against the wall was an innocent looking gramophone, the large attached trumpet nearly touching the wallpaper. Seto inspected the record and then turned it on.

"_Silence,"_ the Voice started again. _"You have been charged-"_ Seto snapped the thing off and turned to see that everyone had followed him. "Who turned this on?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

"I did," Rishid said, his face pale under his tanned skin. "It was in our orders from Mr. Owen. I had no idea what was on it."

No one looked convinced until Rishid pointed out that the record was labeled as Swan Song.

"Why did he say those terrible things?" Anzu asked, trying to remain strong. "Those terrible, terrible lies."

"So big tape voice lied?" Ishtar asked innocently.

"Of course!" Anzu cried. "That girl, Fumika Hibiya, she took dance lessons with me. Then one day after practice she stayed after and slipped in her toe shoes. She broke her neck. I don't know how anyone could blame that on me!"

"I wasn't around when Pegasus died," Bakura spoke up, "Some idiot had thrown the ring away."

"My stepfather committed suicide," Seto ground out, not happy to have to share any aspect of his very personal life.

"The name that they have accused me of," Yami said, "I do not recognize it." Flames, fire, ice. Damn, who had known?

"Well, I'm not taking any blame for my actions," Malik announced to the group. "I wasn't in my right mind."

"Akaski was a Ghouls," Odion said next. "He left one day and never came back. I don't know what happened to him." Malik's orders, he could never say no to his little brother.

"The name doesn't ring a bell," Jou admitted sheepishly. "I wish I could have been more of a help." The cold sweat dripped down his back.

"My sister," Ryou whispered, "Ran out into the street. I couldn't stop her." The screeching of tires, burnt rubber in his nose, Amane screaming, screaming, screaming.

"You all remember my nephew?" Honda started, starring at his feet. "He drowned. We were camping and he wandered off by himself."

"I'm so sorry," Anzu said, clasping Honda's shoulder.

"Professor Bey was the curator at the museum in Cairo," Isis said. Her head was pounding from a terrible headache. She wanted to go lie down and forget about all of this. "He died when a poorly set up display fell on him. Not my fault." But she hadn't stopped it.

"I would never," Yugi stopped and swallowed hard, tears rising in his eyes, "I wouldn't-"

"It's okay, Yugi," Jou said, "We know that you're about as capable of murder as Ryou over there."

"My turn?" Ishtar asked suddenly. He looked around as if waiting for confirmation. "Oaky. I did." He picked up his forgotten dessert and gave it a few experimental pokes. "Lots of screams, pretty, pretty blood. Patterns on wall." He giggled, a very disturbing sound. "I protect dark pretty hikari." He pat Malik on the head like he was some sort of pet. "Always."

"You're despicable," Yami hissed. He was not the only one to notice that Ishtar was the only one who failed to deny his guilt.

Ishtar shrugged and took a bite of the Angle Food Cake before passing it to Malik.

"I agree with you Yami," Yugi said very softly, "But that's not going to help us right now. We have to-"

"No!" Ishtar shouted suddenly, and knocked the plat out of Malik's hands. "Pretty hikari, no!" Then he turned pale and his hand went to his stomach.

"Yami?" Malik said to Ishtar, grabbing his arm. "Yami, what's wrong?"

Ishtar closed his eyes and lay is head on Malik's lap. "No more," he whispered, his face contorting in pain, "No more. So sorry. Sorrysorrysorry." Then he began to cough. Blood flew from his mouth with 

each horrible sound, staining the rug and Malik's clothes and the hikari clung to his yami, not knowing what was wrong. Within minutes, Ishtar stopped moving and died.

Malik touched his yami's marble pale face and threw back his head with an unearthly wail, shocked and distressed beyond fathom.

"How did this happen?" Seto demanded, his chest freezing up. "He was fine a second ago!"

"There was something wrong with the cake," Malik howled, "He stopped me from eating it!"

"How could that be?" Isis said. "I just made that cake this morning." She went over to the table where she had set the cake and recoiled in horror.

"What's wrong?" Yugi cried.

Isis pointed to the tray, unable to speak. Laying on top of the uncut Angel Food cake were the broken remains of one of the ceramic Winged Dragons of Ra.

"Twelve little Duel Monsters came from Heaven," Anzu whispered, her voice echoing like the cold touch of a ghost. "One denounced it and then there were Eleven."

"Where is the owner?" Seto demanded, whirling around.

Rishid had pulled his distressed sister against him, rocking her soothingly. "We never met him," Rishid said gravely. "The job offer came through the mail, as have all our instructions."

"From Owen?" Seto clarified.

"That's who sent me the free tickets," Yugi spoke up.

"Ands sent us the information about this place," Bakura added.

"Ulick Norman Owen," Seto mused, forcing himself to think rationally, "It's got to be an alias."

"An alias is like a puzzle, right?" Yugi asked. "Let me think about it." He sat down and closed his eyes. "Ulick Norman Owen. U-lick Nor-man O-when? U. Norm-an Ow-en? U. N. Owen? Wait!" Yugi's eyes snapped open. "Un-Owen. Oh my God. Unknown!"

"Who ever that Voice on the record was," Yami said, "Who ever this Unknown is, he's obviously dangerous."

"But why did he want us here in the first place?" Honda asked.

"To kill us all," Malik hissed from where he was draped over Ishtar's body. "Kill us like he killed my yami, until there are none left."

"I'm not going to wait around for some lunatic to come after me," Bakura said, jumping to his feet and pulling Ryou with him. "We're leaving."

"You can't," Rishid said, closing his eyes as if just realizing the trap they had stepped into. "There is no boat on the island, or telephone for that matter." Everyone starred at him in shock. "The boatman comes every morning with groceries and the mail."

"This is insane!" Jou cried. "Who else is on this island?"

"No one," Isis said.

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

"Then there is nothing more we can do tonight," Yami said, rubbing his eyes. "The boat will come in the morning. Until then, we should try to get some sleep."

Agreeing, everyone began to move in groups of two or more towards the stairs. Malik came last, being led by his sister while Rishid took care of his yami's body. In Malik's hands were the fragments of Ishtar's Winged Dragon of Ra that not even Isis's quiet insisting would get him to relinquish.

.

TBC

11 guests remaining


	3. Guilt, Second Death

And Then There Were None

By The Inspector

**Chapter Three:** Second Death

**Disclaimer:** I don't own. Don't sue. No money made. Thanks so much!

.

Anzu checked to make sure her door was locked for the fourth time and paced nervously around the room. Her hands were clasped close to her chest and had the fingers tightly interwoven.

She walked the length of the room and turned. The Voice had been so accusing, yet so smug. Walk and turn. She remembered the pain on Ishtar's face as he died. Did it always hurt to die? Anzu shuddered violently, her pacing interrupted by her thoughts. He had been fine one minute, and then…

Anzu shook her head sharply and sat down on her bed. She didn't want to think about it. She didn't WANT to think about it! Unbidden, the face of Fumika Hibiya danced across her inner mind. Such a pretty girl, a wonderful dancer. Her neck twisted at a terrible angle.

Anzu's stomach shuddered and she jumped up and ran to the bathroom where she promptly threw up everything she had eaten that evening. Gasping to breathe, Anzu clutched the porcelain rim, not noticing the tears that had begun to fall.

Oh God, let it all be a dream. One bad, freakish dream. She just wanted to wake up.

--

Seto cursed and threw his cell phone against the wall where it broke with a satisfying crunch of metal and plastic. The thing was as useless as his computer. He was actually going to have to wait until the boat came for them. If it came for them.

A deep pit of apprehension had settled in his stomach earlier and refused to lessen. Now it twisted itself again into a tight knot, making itself known. He didn't have Isis's talent for fortunetelling, but he could feel that something bad was going to happen.

Seto winced and pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead and leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths. The walls around him seemed to dip and spin on their own accord.

He was sure his dizziness was from all the stress. The headaches, the short blackouts. They had to be.

--

Bakura sighed in frustration and rolled off his bed. He couldn't sleep. All he could see was Ryou's eyes when he told everyone that he hadn't been around when the former holder of the Sennen Eye had died. So disappointed, so knowing. He hated those eyes.

Bakura slipped out into the hall and tried the door next to his, rolling his eyes when it opened without resistance to his touch. His stupid hikari hadn't even thought to lock his door. It was like asking someone to come in and murder him while he slept.

Bakura closed the door very softly behind him and slunk over to Ryou's bed in the best way an Ancient Egyptian Thief can slink. He leaned over the bed, making sure his shadow didn't fall over Ryou's face to alert him, and pushed the hair out of Ryou's face so that he could see him. Ryou's eyes were closed gently and his breathing was easy as he slept the peaceful sleep of the innocent.

Good then. At least he wasn't beating himself up about the death of his beloved sister. That had been an accident, yet Bakura knew that his light continuously blamed himself for things that he couldn't stop or wasn't responsible for. Very annoying.

"Stupid hikari," Bakura muttered and let himself out the door. Oh well. Ryou wouldn't tell anyone what Bakura had done. He wouldn't dare.

And yet, somehow, someone had known.

--

It was nearly dawn, but Honda had not slept. He starred up at the ceiling and let his thoughts take him where they would. And none of those places brought him any comfort. Finally, finding attempting to sleep a useless cause, Honda shucked off his blankets and went downstairs.

The whole house was eerily silent and he felt like an intruder, creeping around in the dark. Unaware, his feet led him back to the room where they had heard the Voice. Honda looked at the couch where Ishtar had died and shivered. He didn't like it. Death. Johji. His annoying, slightly pervy little nephew.

They had gone on a camping trip. Just him, Johji, his sister, and her husband. Honda hadn't wanted to come; known that he had only been invited along to be Johji's babysitter.

"I want to go swimming!" Johji had said from the second he saw the lake. And he kept pestering Honda about it until he had given in and took Johji out to the raft in the middle of the lake. Honda had just wanted to relax in the water, but Johji wouldn't quit being a pain. And then Johji hadn't wanted to put on his water wings and Honda's patience snapped.

"Fine!" he had yelled, and dropped his nephew into the water. If he didn't want to wear the stupid orange floatation things, _fine_! It wasn't his problem.

But Johji didn't resurface.

By the time Honda realized that something was wrong and began to search for his nephew, Johji was already dead. Honda had taken the body back to camp, frozen in shock.

But when his sister had demanded to know through her tears how her baby had died, Honda couldn't admit his negligence. Instead he made up a story about Johji running away from him and his trying to save the kid. They believed him, but the Voice had known the truth. He was responsible for his nephew's death.

Honda was so caught up in his memories that he didn't hear the door slid open, didn't sense another's presence until the sharp blade cut into his throat.

--

It was Isis's scream that brought everyone running the next morning. She stood in the doorway to the billiards room, paler than they had ever seen her before. Then hem of her dress was a dusty red at the top and darker at the bottom. The red trail on the floor showed her trip from the drawing-room to the billiards room.

"Isis," Rishid demanded, catching his adopted sister his arms as she nearly fell over in a faint. "Isis, what has happened?" Then he turned and gasped, taking a step away in horror.

On the pool table in the center of the room was Honda's body, bled to an ashy paper white. A pack of playing cards and the colorful chips from a poker set lay scattered around him. The shattered Cyber Commander lay by his head.

"Don't look," Bakura snapped, pulling Ryou back against him and keeping his hikari's eyes averted from the corpse.

"Oh my God!" Anzu wailed, gasping for breath. "Honda!" She collapsed in Jou's arms, sobbing as though her heart would break. Jou held her close, two angry spots of red coloring his otherwise white cheeks.

In the midst of the horror and death, Malik pushed past where Bakura still had a firm hold on his trembling light and fairly sauntered up to where Honda's body was so horrible displayed.

"Eleven little Duel Monsters playing in the den. One lost a bet and then there were Ten," Malik said dreamily, covering Honda's open eyes with two Aces.

"Where's the boat!?" Yami demanded, rocking his sobbing hikari in his arms. "We're getting out of here!"

"It's not coming."

"What!?" Everyone demanded, turning their accusing gazes to Seto.

But Seto met them calmly. "The boat is not coming," he repeated. "Isn't it obvious?" He pointed to the window. "It's storming, no boat will be able to get through. And even if it could, Unknown, Owen, whatever you want to call him, has gone through a lot of work to get us here. The boat probably received instructions not to come."

"But why!?" Anzu shrieked, twisting her hands into Jou's shirt as if trying to anchor herself to her sanity. "Why are they doing this? Who is it?"

"I'm afraid," Isis spoke up, her voice faint and wispy, "That give how the other death occurred last night, there can only be one answer." She took a deep breath, hating herself even as she spoke. "Everyone was moving around after the Voice spoke, any one of us had the chance to tamper with the cake."

"Wait," Yami said, his eyebrows rising as he clutched Yugi closer, "Isis, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying," Isis said heavily, "That the murderer of Ishtar and Honda is one of us. One of us is Owen."

.

TBC

10 Guests Remaining


	4. Motive, Third Death

And Then There Were None

By The Inspector

Chapter Four: Motive, Third Death

Disclaimer: See Previous Chapter.

**Note:** Character Death a given. Please don't yell at me because your favorite character dies.

--

Yami sat rod straight in the chair; Yugi slumped dejected and emotionally exhausted at his side. Yami placed his hand on his light's head, a reassuring gesture that made Yugi smile, before Yami let his mind wander back to Isis's words. No matter how he wanted to, he could not ignore the blatant truth; one of them was the murderer. God, it was like a very bad game. How could one of them be doing this?

And though he hated himself for doing it, Yami looked around the room, rating them in likelihood of being the killer. Anzu was sitting by herself, needing a little time alone with her thoughts. No, it couldn't be her. Jou was brooding in the corner, glaring at Malik every time he got to close. Yami wouldn't accept that Jou could be behind this. He trusted Jou with Yugi's life. He wouldn't entrust Yugi's safety to someone he didn't believe he could trust.

"Get away from me, Malik!"

Malik scampered away from Jou and ducked behind the couch, peeking over the top to make sure Jou wasn't coming after him. If Ishtar hadn't been the first death, Yami would have sworn that he or Malik were the killer. Neither had a good track record with people. But it didn't make sense that Malik would kill off his other first, especially when Ishtar would have _happily_ helped him carry out the plan.

That left Bakura very high on his suspect list. Yami glanced at where the thief and his hikari where laying on the carpet, working silently on a jigsaw puzzle together. Every once in a while, Bakura would look up and glare suspiciously at everyone before returning his attention to the task at hand. One of his legs was thrown possessively over Ryou's, pinning the white-haired hikari in place and keeping him from moving away.

Yes, it could very easily be Bakura. He had tried to kill most of the people in the room at one time or another. But he seemed almost as concerned about Ryou's safety as Yami was for Yugi. Still, it could be an act. Bakura had proven himself a master of deception many times over in the past.

Then there was Kaiba. He'd been acting odd since they all arrived. And he claimed to be on vacation. Since when did Kaiba actually take a vacation from anything? It was completely out of character for him. And yet, Yami couldn't think of a logical reason for why Kaiba would be trying to kill them.

"I'm hungry," Malik complained, interrupting Yami's thought process. Malik jumped over Bakura and Ryou, making Bakura snarl at him when he almost stepped on Ryou, and hopped up beside Isis. "Feeeeeed me," he said, burying his head in her lap.

The mention of food got Jou's attention and he lifted his head up from where it had been resting in his hands. "I'm kinda hungry too," he said.

From the far corner of the room, sitting just out of the group, Seto snorted and turned the page of his book. "When are you not hungry?" It was a typical remark from Seto, but it grated on Jou's last nerves and he jumped to his feet, his fists clenched at his sides.

"Shut up," Jou yelled, "I've had enough from you! I eat when I'm happy and I eat when I'm depressed. My best friend was just murdered so shut the fuck up!" A frozen chill echoed in the room and rain still pounding on the roof seemed frightfully loud.

At last Seto glanced up from his book. He gave Jou an irritated, bored look and then returned his attention pointedly to his book. "If all this bothers you so much, Mutt, then maybe you should go join your friend."

Jou's teeth gnashed loudly and he made a move towards Seto, when Rishid caught his arm and pulled him back to his corner. "Mr. Kaiba," Rishid said, making sure Jou sat back down, "Why don't you help me fix up something for breakfast?"

Seto seemed about to refuse, but one look at Jou's murderous face was enough to change his mind. Still, he shrugged, feigning boredom, and closed his book. "Fine," he agreed. "There's nothing better to do."

Isis left out a sigh of relief and pushed Malik off her. Malik tumbled back onto the other cushion of the couch and then flicked it to the floor so that he could look for loose change that had slipped between the cushions. "If you two will start breakfast," Isis said, pulling herself up off the couch, "Then I'll go set the table."

Ryou connected a long line of boarder pieces to the main frame of the puzzle and then pushed Bakura's leg off him. "I'll help you, Isis" Ryou said as he scrambled up off the floor.

But Ryou had barely stood before Bakura snapped viciously, "You will not!" and latched a hand onto Ryou's shirt, yanking him back to the ground with a loud 'thud' that made Yami wince in sympathy. "What are you thinking?" Bakura demanded, giving Ryou a sharp shake that snapped Ryou's head forward. "For all we know, the murderer could be her!"

Yami bristled at Bakura's accusation. How dare he say such a thing about Yami's friends?! "The murderer is not a girl," Yami declared hotly.

Bakura turned slowly to face Yami. "Oh?" he said murderously soft, his eyes taking on a dark glint. "And how would you know that?" Bakura hissed. Yami was forcibly reminded of an irate cobra, ready to strike at the first thing that moved. "Is that a confession, Pharaoh?" Before Yami could defend himself, Bakura rushed on. "Because none of the deaths have required any great physical strength. Are you suggesting then that women aren't capable of murder?"

"No," Yami said with a frown, "But I don't believe that either Anzu or Isis are responsible for anyone's death."

Bakura shrugged carelessly and untangled the Sennen Ring that lay against Ryou's chest, fixing it so that all the points hung down. "We will see," Bakura said at last. Then he grinned, showing off all his teeth. "After all, only the guilty one will stay alive."

Yugi shuddered and Yami dropped his debate with Bakura make sure that his light was alright. He only looked up briefly when both white haired boys followed Isis out of the room to go set the table.

"Yami?"

Yami looked down and was slightly alarmed to see Yugi's eyes sparkling with unshed tears. He hated seeing Yugi so distressed. If a yami can't protect his hikari, both emotionally and physically, then what good is he?

"Yami, I need to talk to you."

Yami nodded and squeezed his light's hand encouragingly. "Okay," he said softly, "I'm listening."

But Yugi shook his head, causing the first crystal tear to break free and roll down his cheek. "Not here," he begged.

--

Jou barely registered Yami and Yugi leaving the room. He was lost in his own world, starring at his hands, curling and flexing the fingers. Murderer. He'd heard the word more times in the last 24 hours than in four hours of prime time TV. He ran his fingers through his hair nervously and sighed dejectedly.

Haku Zabuza. The Voice just _had_ to remind him. Haku was part of a past he had tried particularly hard to forget. He had been lost for awhile. His mother and sister had left and he had been in a naturally rebellious stage in his life. He had joined a gang, but they didn't accept him like he wanted them to. He was always a lackey, a runner. He wanted to be more important to them, he wanted to matter.

And so, the Leader gave him a test. He personally picked out the frailest, sweetest looking boy, no more than nine years old, and told Jou to beat him up.

The child was as white and pure as his name, almost like a natural born hikari without ever possessing a darker yami. Pale skinned with black hair and large black eyes that widened in fear when Jou approached him, smirking. It was supposed to be a simple test to make sure he had it in him to attack something weaker then himself. But the kid began coughing and gasping after a few good punches. Jou had been a little concerned, but he didn't stop.

He didn't stop until he heard someone coming. Then he dropped the boy to the sidewalk and ran, doubling back to hide in the bushes. The person was the kid's father, who lifted the small body up into his arms and screamed for someone to call an ambulance. The child cried silently in his father's arms, clinging onto him with all the strength one so small could posses. "Haku," his father whispered over and over, "Haku. Haku."

In front of Jou's eyes, the boy's weak heart, the heart that had given him serious medical problems since birth, gave out and he died in his parent's arms. Jou later learned that if his heart hadn't given out, his genetic problem that made it extremely difficult for his blood to clot would have killed him too.

Jou left the gang after that, not caring that he was risking their wrath. After he changed schools, he saw very little of his old friends. He felt sick just thinking about what he had done and regretted it with all his heart and soul. But that wasn't enough. Nothing he could do would ever make up for the innocent life he stole. Murderer. Murderer.

--

Anzu came back into the room and handed Malik a bunch of grapes that she had gone to the kitchen to get for him after he had practically thrown himself at her, begging her to find him something to eat.

Malik took them from her happily and began to much on them, not caring that the juice dribbled down his chin and dripped onto his shirt.

She felt bad for him. Not exactly mentally stable in the first place, his yami had been one of the few constants in his life and truly the only one who could understand the complicated inner patterns of his mind. Now Ishtar was gone, and Malik's mind was in shambles, unable to cope.

Or was he?

Anzu frowned as she watched Malik scamper out the door. Maybe he had grown tired of his yami's constant presence. He could have easily poisoned Ishtar's food that night. But then what was his motive for killing everyone else? Anzu sighed and shook her head. She just didn't know.

Anzu walked over to the only other person in the room and tried to smile. "Hey, Jou," she said softly, shaking his shoulder, "Rishid told me to come tell you that breakfast is done." Anzu shivered at the blank look in Jou's eyes as he slowly lifted his head to look at her. Still, he stood up and followed her out the door.

Anzu and Jou entered the dining room to find almost everyone already seated with the exception of Yugi, Seto, and Rishid. Pancakes and two sausage links were already set on every plate with larger serving platters set at intervals around the table. Malik was already eating, but the others were politely waiting for the rest to join them.

"Is something wrong, Yami?" Anzu asked as she took the seat between him and Ryou. "You look upset."

"It's nothing," Yami said tightly, a muscle twitching in his cheek. But it was clear that it was not 'nothing'. Anzu had never seen such pain and anger in Yami's eyes before. The door behind them opened slowly and Anzu turned around to see Yugi let himself in the room, his eyes trained only on his dark other.

"Yami?"

Yami's teeth clenched together and he didn't turn around to acknowledge the smaller boy. Beside her, Anzu could sense Ryou's surprise at the way Yami was treating Yugi. He was not alone; the majority of the table to looking at Yami like he had just sprouted another head. Why was he acting like this? And towards Yugi of all people!

"Yami?" Yugi said again, coming up behind Yami and placing a hesitant hand on his shoulder. But his well intended gesture only served to anger Yami and he flinched and threw Yugi off him with a violence that shocked his friends.

"Don't touch me," Yami snapped.

Yugi's eyes began to fill with tears. "I'm sorry, Yami," he whispered. Not able to take any more, Yami shoved back from the table and stalked out the door without a backward glance at his distressed light. As the door slammed shut, Yugi gave a small hiccupped cry and ran out the opposite door.

"Yugi!" Anzu called, rising from the table. Jou watched her run after their friend and sighed heavily. It was all going to hell. Stabbing one of the sausages with his knife, Jou brought it up and forced the whole thing into his mouth. Well, who would have guessed? Rishid (or was it Kaiba?) was a pretty good cook.

--

Isis looked up from idly stirring her tea when she heard Jou start to choke. He coughed harshly and clawed at his throat, his eyes wide and panicked. Isis jumped up, screaming for Rishid, and rushed around the table to Jou's side, just managing to catch him as he fell.

"Malik!" she screamed when she saw her younger brother watching Jou struggle to breathe with morbid fascination. "Go get Rishid!"

"Can't be helped," Malik whispered, folding his hands under his chin, "He's already been marked."

Seconds later Rishid was beside her, trying to help Jou, but it was too late. As those in the room watched, Jou's lips turned blue, he breathed his last, and then lay still.

"What the hell?"

Tears running down her cheeks, Isis lifted her head slowly to see Seto standing by the door to the kitchen in shock. On the other side of the table, Bakura, who was trying to comfort Ryou, starred at Jou's body with the cold calmness of one who has seen too much death to be touched by it.

"Tenlittle Duel Monsters went out to dine." Malik's hushed voice cut through the death stilled room. "One choked his little self and then there were Nine." He tilted his head to the side, as though thinking or listening to some music only he could hear. Then he stood up, grabbed the little Flaming Swordsman from the center of the table, and hit it against the chair, severing the little head from the body and causing tiny white fragments of porcelain to fall into the carpet.

"I didn't believe he'd actually go and commit suicide," Seto said, shaking his head as he drew closer.

"Are you mad?" Ryou cried as he turned his splotched face out of Bakura's shirt. "He choked! He didn't do it on purpose!"

"No," Rishid said gravely, helping Isis stand. "There was nothing blocking his air passage. He was poisoned."

"But Malik already ate, and he's still alive," Seto pointed out, indicating the half eaten plate covered in ketchup. "Explain that to me!"

"Jou was chosen," Malik replied calmly, rearranging the remaining glass figures. "Only _his _food was tainted. Either by cook," he made the little Blue Eyes White Dragon 'fly' over to the remaining Winged Dragon or Ra, "Or someone merely passing by." He twirled one of the two Changes of Heart around by the dark wing before setting it by its counterpart. "Anyone who walked by the table could have done it." He held one of the Dark Magicians for a second, looking at it, and then made it push over the Magician of Faith. "Rwww!"

"Malik, stop playing those," Isis scolded, placing a weary hand on her head, wincing at the horrible headache. "We have to tell the others." She tried to take a step forward, but would have fallen if Rishid was not there to steady her. "Dizzy," she complained, leaning against him.

"It's from shock," Rishid said. "I'll take you to your room so that you can get some rest."

"And have nightmares plague my dreams," Isis mumbled. "No, I have to tell them. Yugi at least. Jou is," she swallowed hard as a sick water filled her mouth and her stomach lurched, "was," she corrected herself with a shudder, "one of his best friends."

"I'll tell them," Ryou said, coming around the table and picking up one of her hands, holding it warmly. "Please, Isis, get some sleep."

"Malik and I will move the body," Bakura volunteered now. It would not bother him and his stomach was strong. He was no stranger to rotting flesh. "Where have you been putting them?"

"In the attic," Rishid said vaguely, "On the extra beds up there. Make sure you cover then with one of the sheets."

"Fine," Bakura agreed. He knelt down beside Jou's body and looked around for Malik, only to see him stuffing a last few bites of pancake into his mouth. He scowled. "Get your ass over here and help me, Malik."

.

.

TBC

.

Nine Guests remaining

.

.

.

Author's Notes:

.

The title of the record, Swan Song, has special significance. Swans only sing once in their lives; just before they die.

.

The name Haku means 'white'.

.

.

Until next time!

.

The Inspector


	5. Betrayal, Fourth Death

And Then There Were None

By The Inspector

**Chapter Five:** Betrayal, Fourth Death

.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything. I make no money for this. It is only for fun. So please don't sue me. I would really like to be able to pay my college loans.

.

Yugi lay comatose at Anzu's side, not noticing that Ryou had left the room to find Yami and give him the news. Yugi pulled his knees up to his chest and let Anzu lift his head onto her lap. "I can't believe that he's gone." Yugi didn't know if he said that aloud or not.

Jou, dead. It didn't seem real.

More tears rolled down his face and he did nothing to stop them. His friends were dying one after the other and Yami was angry with him. It was just too much. Too much.

He needed Yami. Only Yami could help make the hurt go away. And Yami wasn't speaking to him. He felt like dying. He wanted his Yami.

"Yami," he sniffed, closing his eyes as Anzu began to comb her fingers through his hair like his mother did when he was sad or sick. "Yami."

--

Isis lay awake, starring at the ceiling and listening to the rain hit her window. The weather was still bad and blustery and the sky even at this early hour was a slate grey. The rain tapped out it's song on the window, playing a funeral march. It seemed most appropriate.

Isis sighed and rolled over, pressing her head into the pillows. So many dead. They were all so young. How many more before it would end? Or until she herself was, as Malik said so plainly, marked.

No, she couldn't sleep, even though her body yearned for rest. She had not been able to sleep the other night and had gotten up early only to discover a bloody trail that led to Honda's dead body. Sleep held no escape for her. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Ishtar die, heard Malik scream. And now Jou's death would join her night terrors.

Isis shuddered and tossed restlessly, her hands clasped to her chest. Was this killer only going after the guilty or was he just picking randomly from those trapped in the house? If only the guilty were in danger, that included her brother.

Despite what Malik had told the group, he was very much responsible for Mayu Satoru's death. It had been a hit and run. Mayu Satoru, a little girl, stepped out into the street and Malik hit her on his motorcycle. He left her there, hurt and sobbing, and never looked back. And she died. That would put him on the killer's list. And herself as well.

Isis flipped over onto her back and threw the covers off. She had never liked Professor Bey. He treated her like a stupid child when she knew more about Ancient Egypt than he did. He always dismissed her theories and findings of ancient magic as 'fairy tales and hocus pocus.'

Then one day, she saw his death through her Sennen Item. Instead of warning him or telling the crew to push the display back an inch so it wouldn't fall, she stood back and let it happen. She had called it 'fate' and 'destiny' back then. But she had only been fooling herself.

Murder.

Isis's door opened and shortly two white pills and a glass of water were placed on her nightstand. Isis looked at them and then at the person who had brought them for her.

"To help you sleep."

Isis sat up, brushed a wrinkle out of her dress, and then picked up the glass and capsules and smiled wearily. "Thank you," she said, "This is just what I needed."

--

Yami lay stomach down on his bed, his hot tears falling onto the dark material of his pillow. He felt so hurt, so betrayed. His throat hurt from trying to keep back everything he wanted to cry and shout and sob. "Yugi," he whispered aloud, his voice scratchy.

How could he? How? If there was one thing that Yami had believed true in the world, it was that Yugi was good and pure. No matter how dark things may get, Yugi was still something unable to be tainted or corrupted. And now that deepest faith was shattered into unrepairable fragments.

Yami closed his eyes, welcoming the darkness that comes from behind closed lids, but Yugi's haunted eyes were all he could see. Yugi's eyes as he confessed to the murder of Minami Sano. When he admitted that The Voice had not lied.

"Yugi," Yami murmured again, swallowing hard. "Why?" Yes, he knew _why_, a stupid bet, a foolish mistake, but he didn't understand why Yugi had done it. That's what he was there for! To protect Yugi and keep him from having to ever do stuff like this. It wounded him to the very core of his heart.

"I killed for you," Yami hissed into his pillow, "Why did you have to do this to yourself?" Goro Inogashira, the person The Voice had accused Yami of murdering, had trespassed on Yugi's soul, and Yami had taken revenge. The Shadow Game Yami had sentenced him to had killed him. But that was such a long time ago. Yet the Voice had known. He could no longer deny it; everyone on the island had to be guilty of some murder that had never been punished.

And if Yugi was guilty, his sweet, innocent hikari, then there was no hope for any of them.

"Yami?"

Yami sat up, wiping his eyes quickly, as Ryou opened the door. The other hikari looked so sad.

"Yami, there's been another death."

Yami followed Ryou into the library where everyone else was gathered, speaking in low tones as if anything above a whisper would draw the attention of the dark fates. Bakura snagged Ryou the second he stepped away from Yami and sat him by his side of the sofa.

Rishid waited until Yami was seated in a chair across the room from Yugi, something Yugi noticed at once and nearly broke his heart, before he began speaking. "I know you are all scared," he started. "That is why I think it best that you all take the utmost precautions until we can think of a way to get off this island. Stay in groups of two or more. Don't eat or drink anything that has been unattended for periods of time."

Rishid looked around the room to make sure that everyone was listening. "We don't think that the killer is two people, but it is a possibility. We also haven't ruled out mind control so if you experience any loss of time, please let us know."

Malik clutched the Sennen Rod to his chest and shook his head. "Not me!" He squished himself back into the couch cushion, still protecting his Item. "Nope, nope, nope!"

"We already know the killer has been using poison," Yami said now, thinking aloud and completely ignoring Malik's rambling. "But he, or she," he added when Bakura opened his mouth to interrupt, "Also uses weapons."

"Yes," Rishid agreed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a long carving knife wrapped in a stained white handkerchief. "Mr. Kaiba found this knife that we believe killed Honda in the kitchen this morning. That is why we've decided it would be best to lock up every weapon or thing that could be used as a weapon." He pointed to the drawer from the kitchen that held all the knives, Bakura's own personal dagger that he had protested loudly about being relieved of, and poisonous cleaning products that had already been collected into a pile at his feet.

"We will put them all in the safe box." Rishid motioned for Anzu and Yami to pick up the stuff on the floor and removed a painting on the wall. Behind it was the safe box, built right into the wall. Rishid unlocked it with a small silver key and stood back while the weapons were carefully placed inside.

"Now," Rishid said gravely, turning back to the others, "Add the Sennen Items."

"What?!" Bakura howled, already irritated at losing his weapon, "No!"

"Really, Rishid," Yami protested. "Isn't that going a bit far?"

"We're just making sure," Rishid replied calmly. "Several of the Items have mind controlling abilities and we're not even aware of all the powers that any one posses."

Though a good argument, for a long time no one moved. The wind banged restlessly on the windows and whistled down the chimney, threatening to put out the fire burning there.

Then very slowly, Ryou began to lift the Sennen Ring off his neck. Bakura hissed wordlessly at him, but Ryou removed it, the points at the end sounding like angry bells as they clattered against each other. He walked pale faced over to the safe box and lay it gently inside. Yugi followed him and lay his Sennen Puzzle on the pile. Rishid did have to pry Malik's hands off the Sennen Rod though.

"You're mean!" Malik said with a scowl, as Rishid childishly held the Sennen Rod over his head where Malik couldn't get it. "I'm going to tell Isis!"

"Weren't we supposed to stay in groups?" Ryou pointed out as Malik let the door slam behind him.

"Yeah," Yami agreed with a sigh. But no one got up to go with Malik.

"Are there any other things that we should lock up?" Anzu asked, changing the subject as she dropped her nail scissors into the pile from her purse.

Negative replies answered her until Seto sighed loudly, voicing his aggravation. "I have something," he said, brushing the hair out of his face. A loud clap of thunder and a flash of lightening made everyone jump. "I carry a small automatic. It's in my suitcase in my room."

"What?" Yami whispered, his eyes widening in disbelief. "Are you telling us that you brought a gun with you?" Every eye was fastened on Seto, waiting for his answer.

"Yes," Seto replied, a scowl settling on his face.

"Why do you have something like that?" Anzu whispered, her face turning ashy pale.

"For protection," Seto snapped defensively. He knew that the whole lot was judging him, and it annoyed him. They had no right to judge him. "I've lost count of the number of times people have attacked me or my brother. It's just a precaution."

"Precaution or not," Bakura called from his place on the sofa, "It's got to go!" He wrapped his arm around Ryou, causing the light's head to drop to his shoulder. "There are the hikari to think about. This gun of yours puts them in greater danger. And it's a sin against the gods to kill something so pure," he hissed.

Yami stiffened and looked away. If only his light was as innocent as Bakura's. It almost made him laugh; that he would ever envy the dark spirit of the Sennen Ring anything.

"I'll go retrieve it," Seto snapped, "Then you can add it to your little collection." He jumped to his feet, but paused when his hand touched the door. He glanced back at the group. "Who is coming with me?" he asked.

Anzu blinked twice. "What?" she said.

Seto scowled and withdrew his hand. "I'm not going up there alone with that psycho running around," he declared.

"That 'psycho' is my brother," Rishid said, his voice taking on a low growl.

"I'll go," Ryou offered, trying to relieve the tension in the room. He stood up, but Bakura latched onto his shirt before he took two steps.

"If Ryou is going, then I'm going too," Bakura announced, daring Seto to contradict him. But Seto didn't give a rat's ass about what Bakura cared.

"Not you," Seto snarled as he met the spirit's challenging glare. "You could slit my throat and your 'sweet' light would do nothing to stop it."

"What are you implying?" Bakura growled, his hackles rising and his hair fluffing out like an irate cat. His hands twitched as his sides like a lion's claws, itching to rip and tear.

"I mean he's practically your puppet," Seto shot back. "A pretty posable doll."

Bakura lunged forward with a wild war cry, but Ryou jumped out in front of him, pushing his forehead into Bakura's shoulder and planting his feet, impeding Bakura's advance.

"How can you say that about Ryou!" Anzu exclaimed. "You should be ashamed."

"Kaiba," Ryou said, turning from Bakura, but not letting go of the angry yami, "I know that I can be passive at times," his face burned with two bright spots of color, "But I'm not stupid."

"I don't care," Seto argued. He looked critically around the room, until his eyes settled on one. "I'll take Yugi," he announced.

"Yugi does not go anywhere without me," Yami reminded Seto.

Across the room, Yugi's eyes first widened in surprise before softening into gleaming shimmers. No matter how angry or disappointed Yami was, Yugi was still his hikari, and Yami would give his life to protect him.

"I don't want you any where near me, Yami," Seto snarled. "Everyone here has been your enemy at some time. You're my prime suspect!"

Yami's eyes flashed. "How dare you-" he stated, but Seto cut him off.

"I suspect everyone," Seto yelled. "You, Bakura, Ryou, your miserable runt of a hikari, even Anzu and Isis! I don't trust anyone but myself."

"Enough!" Rishid shouted, silencing everyone. "We will all accompany you," he said. He swung the safe box door shut and locked it before pocketing the key.

"Why do you get to keep the key?" Bakura snarled, still riled up. "Why should we trust you any more than anyone else? For all we know, you're the killer yourself! Or you might give the key to Malik on some crazy impulse to calm an insane whim of his."

"I would never," Rishid said, his eyes narrowing. "And as the only adult here, I take the responsibility!"

"I don't like it," Yami said, surprising himself by agreeing with Bakura. "There must be a better way to deal with this."

"We could toss the key into the ocean," Anzu suggested timidly.

"No!" Two yami and hikari shouted as one.

"Our Sennen Items are in there," Yugi exclaimed. "If we throw away the key, we'll never get them back."

Yugi looked around the room and then titled his head back to look up at Rishid. "If you will guard the key with your life," Yugi said, his voice quivering slightly, "Then it is entrusted to you."

"I will do as you ask," Rishid promised.

"Okay then," Yami said, releasing the breath he had been holding. "Let's go get the gun."

"But Yugi!" Ryou protested, but Yugi shook his head calmly.

"I trust him."

Seto pushed open his door, letting the others into the room, and knelt down beside the bed to pull his suitcase out from under it. He placed it on the bed and opened it, taking out a small black box. "Here," he said, trusting it at Yugi. "Complete with extra rounds."

Yugi took it cautiously as if it would bite him and gave it to Anzu. Balancing it carefully, she snapped it open. "There's nothing here," she exclaimed.

"What?" Yami said.

"What?" Seto echoed in disbelief. "It has to be there!"

Yami's hands clenched together, until he left white half-moons imprinted on his palms. His eyes burned with anger and disbelief. "Where is it!?" he yelled.

"I don't know!" Seto shouted back. "If I knew, we wouldn't be here!"

"There is a murderer on the loose in the house," Yami reminded Seto, "And now he has YOUR gun! My hikari is here! How dare you put his life in danger!?"

"I promise I didn't do it on purpose," Seto snarled.

"How do you expect me to believe that?" Yami demanded. "You could have it hidden somewhere else and are trying to make us think it's been taken. So that when it's used, we won't blame you!"

"Rishid!"

Yami and Seto fell silent as Malik's wild cry echoed through the house.

"Rishid!"

"Oh god," Anzu whispered, "What happened to Malik?"

Rishid ran out of the room and leaned over the rail in time to see Malik run from the library to the conservatory, still screaming his adopted brother's name. "Malik!" he called, the rest of the group coming up behind him. "Malik, what's wrong."

Malik looked up and sniffed, his eyes wide in pain and fear. "Isis won't wake up," he hiccupped. "She won't wake up! I tried and tried and…" Malik sank to the floor, unable to stand any longer and began to sob 'sister' 'sister' into his hands.

Rishid hurried down the stairs, taking some two at a time, and picked up his little brother, letting the mentally unstable boy cry against his shoulder.

"She won't. Wake up." Malik sobbed, burying his head against Rishid. "Make her wake up."

Rishid carried Malik up the stairs. He passed the others silently, his face tight and stony. Only his eyes showed the turbulent thoughts running through his head. He opened a door on his right and went in with Malik, returning a few minutes later, alone.

"Let's go find Isis," Rishid said quietly. Anzu scuttled to his side and took his hand in hers. He squeezed it in thanks, drawing comfort from her concern, and they followed him to her room.

Isis lay still on her bed and her eyes were gently closed. She did indeed look as though she was asleep. But they knew it was only an illusion. Two halves of a broken Zorgoth lay on her night stand next to an empty water glass.

Seto leaned over her and placed two fingers against her neck. "She's dead," he announced solemnly.

Rishid let go of Anzu's hand and stumbled to Isis's bedside, sinking to his knees. His lips began to move in an old prayer and the others moved quietly out of the room to give him some privacy. They gathered out into the hall, silent in shock and sadness.

"Nine little Duel Monsters sat up very late. One overslept and then there were Eight. At least it was painless for her," Anzu said with a sniff. "Not that it means much." She shook her head and wavered unsteadily on her feet. "Oh god," she whispered, half hysterical, "I think I'm going to throw up."

Yami grabbed her arm and carefully led her down the hall. A few seconds later, retching sounds were heard.

"God," Yugi said as he shook his head sadly. He tugged on Ryou's sleeve. "Come on, let's go get her a glass of water and a wet cloth." Ryou nodded in agreement and they hurried off, leaving Bakura alone with Seto. They starred silently at each other for a few, long moments.

Had he not known that Rishid was right in the next room, Seto would have been a lot more nervous. But Bakura wasn't so stupid that he'd try something where there were witnesses. Incidentally, Bakura was thinking the same thing about Seto.

"Is it you?" Bakura asked at last, leaning casually against the wall.

"No," Seto said, shaking his head seriously. "And you?"

"Of course not," Bakura replied. He glanced at his nails, bit one off, and then glared back up at Seto from under his hair, his eyes hidden in shadow. "You'll forgive me if I don't believe you," he spat sarcastically. "Just stay away from my Ryou."

"Then _YOU_ stay away from me."

--

The rest of the day was tense and frightened. Malik was brought out of his room for dinner, but he burst into tears twice and then into giggles and Rishid finally had to remove him from the table.

The rest of the evening was spent searching the house for the gun, but nothing turned up and the search was declared a failure.

No one felt much like playing a game after dinner and everyone began drifting to their rooms shortly after eight.

"Yami?"

Yami looked up from unlocking the door to his room. His smile fell. "Yes, Yugi?" he asked stiffly.

"Yami," Yugi said, stepping closer. "Yami, I know who it is."

Yami blinked twice. "What?"

Yugi looked up and down the hall nervously. "I know who the killer is."

Yami held up his hand. "Stop, Yugi," he said. "I can't take this right now."

"But Yami!" Yugi insisted.

Yami shook his head. "Tomorrow, Yugi," he promised. "Tell me tomorrow." He just wasn't ready to forgive Yugi, to go back to acting like nothing had happened. He disappeared into his room and Yugi heard the click of the lock being drawn.

With his head low on his chest, he never saw the eyes watching him, nor did he see the door that the eyes peered out of close silently.

.

.

TBC

.

.

Eight Guests Remaining

The Inspector

.

.


	6. Lunacy, Fifth Death

And Then There Were None

By The Inspector

**Chapter 6:** Lunacy, Fifth Death

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the characters. I am making no money. Please, please, please don't sue me. Gracias!

Author's Note: I'm apologize now, before hand, for the death in this chapter. Expressions of sadness are fine, but please don't flame me.

--

Anzu shivered and wrapped her blankets tighter around her shoulders. It was so dark. She hated the dark. It felt like the cold icy fingers of the shadows were entwining themselves around her throat. How far did one have to jump off the cliff of sanity to be crazy? How much sadness and trauma could the human soul take before it broke?

She wanted to go home. She just wanted to go home. "I'm sorry!" she whispered, "I'm so sorry!"

--

Cold. So cold. Where was his yami? His yami, dark like night and warm like desert sand. Was he hiding?

Was he playing?

Was he sleeping? Yes, yes, just sleeping.

Silly yami, sleeping all day. Sister would scold him again. Sister, sister, never can stay mad long.

"Twelve little monkeys, jumping on the bed. One fell off and bumped his head! Rishid called Isis and Isis said, 'No more monkeys jumping on the bed!'"

Giggling hysterically. Better find yami before Isis turns him into a monkey!

--

Ryou stood at his window, peering out through the storm, trying to see the stars. When he was younger, on the nights that his parents left him alone and before he knew about Bakura's existence, he'd always look to the stars to keep him company. Cold and distant as they were, the stars were always there, even when he couldn't see them.

Ryou sighed and turned back to his bed. He would try to sleep, but he doubted peaceful dreams would come.

Maybe he'd go pay Bakura a visit. Even with Bakura's attitudes, he was still his yami, and lonely is the soul without it's other half.

--

Seto woke up on the floor of his room, his head throbbing. He sat up slowly and touched the back of his head, wincing and pulling away quickly when he felt the large welt there.

"Damn," he hissed. He must have fainted again. He checked his watch, tying to figure out how long he had been out this time. He wasn't sure when his world had begun to blacken, but he was able to estimate somewhere between five and ten minutes.

Pulling himself off the floor with a small grunt of pain, Seto staggered into his adjoining bathroom and wet a cloth to put on his head. "Damn."

--

Yami checked his clock and sighed heavily. A full twenty seconds had passed since he had last checked. He should never have gone to sleep without getting himself and Yugi on better terms. All he could think about was hearing Yugi cry himself to sleep in the room next to his. And it broke his heart.

HE had been the one to make his light cry. What kind of yami was he to do that to his light? He never wanted to cause his hikari such pain. He had just been so angry. But he would apologize to Yugi at first light. Things wouldn't be the same between them, but in time they would both heal. If only the dawn would come sooner.

Yami shivered violently and pulled the covers close up to his neck, suddenly very cold. Damned weather.

He had just closed his eyes, mentally rehearsing what he was going to say to Yugi, when he heard the scream. It was high pitched and panicked and full of true terror that drove a spike of fear into his heart. The person screamed and screamed wordless cries that sent a cold wave of fear into his soul.

Yami shot out of bed and ran out into the hall, colliding head first with Bakura. Both spirits fell, clutching their heads. The horrible screaming continued, hysterical.

"Ryou," Bakura whispered, and he shoved Yami away from him. "Ryou!" he screamed. He ran down the hall and scrambled down the stairs as fast as he could screaming his light's name, Yami right behind him.

Ryou, Ryou was screaming. Oh merciful gods, not Ryou. Yami heard the footsteps behind him and spared a quick glance back to see Malik and Seto hurrying down after him. Anzu's door was just opening and Rishid was coming down the stairs from his room on the floor above them.

As he rounded the corner, right on Bakura's tail, Yami prepared himself to see Ryou in the last stages of his mortal life; struggling for his last breath, screaming in pain, his blood everywhere.

But he was not prepared himself for what he saw.

Ryou was pressed against the wall, a broken water glass around him and the water chilling his bare feet. He was screaming, screaming, his eyes closed tightly with tears trickling through the closed lids and his hands clenched at his sides.

Before him was Yugi laying still, still, still, his skin ashy pale and a plastic train tag from their stop in Devon pulled too tight around his slender throat. Bakura stepped quickly over Yugi's body and ran to his light. Ryou just kept screaming and Bakura finally slapped him hard across the face.

Ryou gasped and hiccupped, opening his eyes enough to see Bakura, before he broke down in loud sobs. "Don't touch me," he cried, backing away from him. "Don't touch me!"

But Bakura ignored his light's frantic cries and wrapped his arms around him, rocking him back and forth while he wept.

"Oh my God," Ryou sobbed, clinging to Bakura like a life line and burying his face in his shirt, "Oh my God."

Yami staggered forward as if in a trance and dropped to his knees before his lifeless hikari. "Yugi?" he whispered, slowly reaching out and touching Yugi's hair, easing it out of his face. "Yugi? Yugi, wake up." He cupped Yugi's face in his hand, running his thumb up and down his cheek. "He's so cold," Yami whispered, his eyes pricking with tears ready to fall. His hands shook as he unfastened the plastic around Yugi's neck and let to drop to the side.

Everything, Ryou's crying, Bakura's low murmurs, Anzu's whimpers, Marik's high-paced chatter, everything faded into grey noise in the background. Carefully, Yami cradled Yugi's body in his arms, hugging him close and dampening his bright hair with his tears.

The movement dislodged something tucked in Yugi's shirt pocket and it clattered noisily to the floor. Yami looked down and saw three pieces of a little ceramic Dark Magician. And something deep within him snapped.

"Eight little Duel Monsters traveling to Devon. One decided to stay and then there were Seven." His voice cut sharp through the souls of those gathered around him. Gently and with loving care, Yami lay Yugi back down and stumbled to his feet.

Slowly, he lifted his head, his eyes brimming with anger and furry even as the tears fell unchecked down his face. "Which one of you was it?" he demanded with a hiss. "Which one of you did this?" He whirled around to face the carriers of the Sennen Ring, and Ryou shrank back into his yami's arms. "What happened, Ryou?" he snapped, his hands opening and closing like a crocodile's jaws.

"I (sniff) I was going (sniff) to see Bakura. But then I came down for a drink of water. I (sob) I didn't see h-him until I was on my way back and I," Ryou broke down into tears again and didn't continue.

"When I find out which one of you it was," Yami vowed, his chest heavily with his irregular breathing, "I will kill you. You will find that I am more of a challenge than my hikari was." Then he turned and fled up the stairs, unable to stay any longer.

He ran up the stairs, tripping twice, and threw himself down on Yugi's bed where he began crying his heart out. He sobbed and raged and screamed until he had no energy to move and simply lay still with his arms wrapped around Yugi's pillow. "Yugi," he choked, "Yugi, I'm so sorry." He'd never forgive himself. Never. Never. Never.

--

Malik scowled and rubbed his backside from where Rishid had dropped him in his room. He stuck his tongue at the closed door, and then tried the knob only to find himself locked in. He kicked the door and then wandered back to his bed to sulk.

As he idly braided a few strands of his hair that hung in his face, he gave a thought to what he had seen. Yami's Yugi was dead. So sad. To be a yami without a hikari. He was a hikari without his yami. Would Yami be his new yami?

Malik giggled and stuck the ends of his hair in his mouth. It was funny. Yami was darkness, but the wrong kind of darkness. His darkness burned too bright for a hikari like Malik. Besides, Ishtar would be jealous when he woke up.

"Sleepy yami. Sleepy Sister."

--

Anzu sat with her back against the wall in her room. In her hands she held a large jagged piece of her bathroom mirror. The other pieces she had sprinkled on the floor near her door. If anyone came in, she would hear them

After Rishid had sent them all to bed, hauling Malik away by the scruff of his shirt like an over-grown kitten, Anzu had taken measures to defend herself against a midnight killer.

Anzu sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand, smearing blood over her face. In hindsight, she realized that she should have used something besides her bare hands to break the glass. She laughed and shook her head. It couldn't be helped now. You can't take back the past.

"Oh Yugi," she whispered into the dark, "Yugi, I think I'm going crazy." And she laughed until she cried and then cried until she fell asleep.

--

Rishid climbed the stairs up to the attic, his feet heavy as though his shoes had been filled with lead. He felt closer to the storm up here. Malik and Isis had never been very fond of nature's elements, a side effect from growing up underground in a controlled environment. But Rishid loved it. The wilder the weather, the better.

Rishid pushed open the door to the attic and let himself in, staying reverently silent. He moved past the white covered bodies of Jou and Honda, paused to look at Ishtar, and then came to a stop beside Isis. Slowly he sank to his knees and bowed his head.

His sister, maybe not by blood, but he had grown up treating her like a little sister. And now she was gone. He had failed her. And her beloved younger brother was going mad. "Isis," he whispered, "Help me. Tell me what to do."

But the dead can not speak and her secrets stayed with her.

--

Morning came as mornings will and the storm had improved. The wind did not howl like a lost child, but the sky was still dark and the rain fell alternating between light mists and hard downpours.

Yami sat curled up on Yugi's bed, starring out the window. Deep within his soul was a terrible ach and he periodically rubbed his chest absently, trying to get it to stop hurting. But nothing helped.

Yugi was gone, and there was nothing he could do to change that, no matter how much he begged and pleaded with every god he could name. Without his light, he ceased to have a purpose. The only thing that kept him sane was a cold determination to avenge his poor hikari.

Was this what Malik felt then? A horrible hole left in his heart and soul where his other used to reside? It felt like something was eating away at him, and he didn't know how long he could endure it.

Why had they gone after his poor light? He was no harm to anyone. Unless…Yami groaned and buried his head under his pillow. Someone must have heard him say that he knew who the killer was. Stupid, stupid, STUPID! If he had only shoved aside his pride for a second and listened to him…

Dimly he became aware that someone was pounding on his door and he lifted his head slightly to look at it. Ryou had come by earlier with Bakura to ask him if he wanted anything from the kitchen for breakfast, but the thought of eating had made Yami want to throw up and he had declined. He wondered if this was their second attempt at getting him to take some form of nourishment.

"Yami? Yami are you in there?"

--

TBC

--

Seven Guests Remaining

.

The Inspector


	7. Keys, Sixth Death

And Then There Were None

By The Inspector

**Chapter Seven:** Keys, Sixth Death

.

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. Never mine. I'm so sad. I make no money. Bummer. Don't sue me. Thanks.

.

Character Death is a given. Please don't flame me.

--

--

Yami rolled off Yugi's bed with a groan. The whole room seemed to dip and swirl under his feet. He was half ready to just stumble back to bed and ignore the sound at the door. But the person at the door continued to pound on it and he had to force himself over to answer it.

It was Anzu, and she had tears streaming down her face. "Yami," she whispered, wiping her eyes with a white bandaged hand. "Oh Yami," she sniffed hard, "There's been another."

Yami took a deep breath and nodded slowly. He almost wished now that it was another call to eat. But no, not in this nightmare. "Take me there," he said with a tired sigh. He did not ask who the victim was; he'd find out soon enough.

Anzu gripped his hand hard, like it was her only lifeline, and led him down the stairs. In the back of Yami's mind he remembered Bakura's warning about women being just as capable as men of murder. "Did you do it?" he whispered. He had to know.

Anzu's head jerked up and she starred at him. "Do what?" Her voiced quivered slightly and she looked away, ashamed.

"Did you kill that girl, like the Voice said?"

Anzu pulled her hand away from Yami's and looked down at her hands, clenching and unclenching them. "It wasn't supposed to be like that," she whispered. "I was jealous. Fumika Hibiya had gotten the lead in our recital. I wanted that part more than anything." Anzu blinked rapidly, trying to keep her tears from falling, and her voice hitched. "I tampered with her toe shoes. I only wanted her to slip, twist her ankle so that she couldn't perform." Anzu shook her head and turned her face away. "I never meant for her to die."

Yami stood still, trying to absorb Anzu's confession. She had caused the death of dance classmate. Bakura had been right. Bakura was right and Yugi was dead. And he felt like he was living in a dream, like he was all alone in the dark. He felt so cold.

Yami walked away from Anzu, ignoring her silent tears, and found Malik standing at the front door, looking out into the misty gray rain. "Malik?" he asked, approaching slowly.

Malik turned to face him, his eyes very sad. "So alone, Yami," he said. "People fear death because they don't know what awaits them. But it is the ones who are left behind who suffer the loss." He turned back to the rain. "Everyone must die eventually. It's part of living. A balance. Like light and dark."

Then Malik tilted his head back and grinned wickedly, his brief bout of sanity gone. "Yami, Yami, Yami," he chirped, "All alone, Yami." He laughed hysterically and leaned against the door frame. "I need a new yami," he said. He held out his hand coyly. "Be mine?"

Yami pushed past Malik in disgust and stepped out into the elements. He could hear voices and followed them around the house. There, lying on the ground and soaked through from the rain, was the next victim.

Rishid lay on his side, the remaining house guests surrounding his body. Bakura held an ax in his hands that he had pulled from the man's head. Seto stood to one side, shaking his head slowly in disbelief while Ryou looked away, his white hair whipping around him in long damp tendrils. In his hands were the remains of the little Embodiment of Opopis.

"Seven little Duel Monsters chopping up sticks," Yami said softly, coming up behind them. "One chopped himself in halves and then there were Six."

Seto swore fiercely under his breath and stormed off. Ryou touched Bakura's arm once and then followed.

Seto did not go far, only to the edge of the veranda that was below the deck where Rishid had been found. He gripped the cold railing and bowed his head in the rain. His head was killing him and he pressed the heel of his palm against his forehead, trying in vain to relieve the throbbing pain.

"Are you okay?"

Seto's back stiffened and he glanced over his shoulder and glared at the person who dared bother him when he wanted to be alone. But Ryou was not fazed. "Are you okay?" he repeated, stepping down the last few stone steps to where Seto was.

"Didn't your freakishly overprotective yami warn you to stay away from me?" Seto growled, leaning back against the rail.

Ryou shrugged and pointed up to the deck where Bakura still was. "He can still see me, so he won't freak out." Ryou copied Seto's position on the rail and shook his head, sending small drops of water flying. "So, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Seto snapped and turned his head sharply, wincing at the spike of pain in his head. "My head hurts," he mumbled under his breath. He looked up to find Ryou watching him with a genuine look of interest and concern on his face. "I haven't been feeling well lately," Seto finally admitted. "Headaches, black outs, fainting. Stuff like that." Then he scowled, embarrassed. "Not that you'd understand."

"Wouldn't I?" Ryou said softly. He turned to look out at the water. "You will never know what it is like to go to bed and wake up in your pajamas outside in the middle of the street. To discover caches of jewelry and expensive things hidden around the house and have no idea where they came from. To find blood under your fingernails and pray to god it's your own."

Ryou folded his arms across his chest and bowed his head. "Yamis are very temperamental creatures, Kaiba. You have never had one, perhaps because you never took up the Sennen Rod. But they are the extremes of emotion. Fiercely protective and dangerously violent. The fool that pushes a yami too far finds themselves praying for death to release them from torment."

Seto shivered in spite of himself and glanced up to where Bakura was now perched on the wall around the deck, looking down like a watchful cat, his eyes never leaving his light except to glare warningly at Seto. And Seto knew with a cold chill that Ryou spoke from personal experience.

"What happens when a yami loses a hikari, or visa versa?" Seto asked, his scholarly curiosity kicking in. "I heard from one of them that you've had Bakura taken from you several times."

Ryou nodded. "It hurts," he said, raising his hand to his heart. "It's like being torn in two. You can't eat, you can't sleep. You feel cold and feel like you are slowly going mad. Everything is out of balance."

"Is that what's happening to Yami and Malik?" Seto said, trying to figure which one was now more dangerous. Which was less likely to strike out at random? He didn't know.

"Yes," Ryou agreed. "Ishtar may have been Malik's spilt personality given freedom and form by the power of the Sennen Rod, but he was to Malik what Bakura is for me. Companion and dark part of a shared soul. Yami prided himself with protecting Yugi, like Bakura has fiercely kept me safe from even his own paranoid imagined threats. Without the stabilizing element of their other half, they are volatile and unpredictable."

"If your yami is trying to protect you," Seto said suspiciously, "Then how can he make you watch the deaths of those who would harm you?"

Ryou laughed softly and shook his head. "I never said he makes me watch. When we were still sharing a single body, I could be walking home from the library and suddenly black out. The next thing I would be aware of was being at home with a new molar to add to the box."

"Molar?" Seto asked, his stomach clenching with sudden queasiness. And not just because of Bakura's gruesome habits. He didn't like the sound of those blackouts Ryou mentioned. It hit too close to home.

But Ryou, who didn't seem to notice his discomfort, nodded and sighed. "He's a thief, Kaiba. He collects things. Of the people who get on the wrong side of him, he takes a prize. When concerning me, it's a tooth. He used to collect Monster World Dolls before Yami made him stop."

"Should I let Yami and Malik know that I've heard what they are going through?"

"No!" Ryou gasped. "Stay away from them both," he whispered, his eyes wide. "Malik's grasp of reality is practically gone with only flashes of sanity while Yami will slowly go mad with a need for revenge. There is no telling what either of them is capable of. The last thing you want to do is provoke them!"

Ryou shook his head. "Even before I got Bakura, and when he was gone, I could feel him calling out for me. It's like a silent screaming in your head. Because he was still there. He still existed. A Yami will always try to return to it's hikari. There is no way to escape a yami, except through death."

"Would Yami kill Yugi?" Seto asked seriously. "If he thought he was protecting Yugi from a worse death, would he take it upon himself to kill him?"

Ryou chewed on his lip for a moment, shifting nervously. He opened his mouth slowly to answer, but a shout cut him off.

"It's gone!"

Seto and Ryou looked up at Yami's cry and then hurried back up to find out what was wrong.

"What's gone?" Ryou asked as he stepped back on the deck, ignoring Bakura as he checked his light for bruises and scratches that his paranoid mind thought Seto may have given him even while he was watching.

"The key!" Yami snarled, whirling around. "The key to the safe box is gone."

"Please tell me that you're joking," Seto hissed, his face turning bright red and then paper pale in a matter of seconds.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Yami snapped. He turned sharply on his heel and stormed back to the house, the others following close behind.

As they passed the front door, Bakura grabbed Malik and tugged him along with them. "Let's not have you wandering off by yourself," he said. "Rishid's not here to watch you."

Malik nodded happily in agreement and hugged him like a boa constrictor does it's prey. "Will you be my yami?" he asked sweetly.

Bakura pried Malik off him and shoved him away. "Get away from me," he growled. "I already _have_ a hikari."

Malik folded his arms across his chest with a dissatisfied huff and glared at Ryou like it was his fault.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Anzu asked when she saw everyone moving into the library. She did a quick head count and sighed in relief when she found that everyone was there. Maybe, if they were all very careful, they could get through the day without losing another.

"The key," Ryou whispered to her, "The key Rishid was holding is gone."

Anzu saw Yami slam the empty safe shut, heard him, Seto, and Bakura begin arguing again, but she felt detached from it now. What would they do without Rishid or Isis to control the more violent members of the household?

But Rishid and Isis were dead and couldn't help any longer. Everyone was dying. And it was only time before the rest would get picked off. And end up dead, dead, dead. Like Yugi, like Jou, like Fumika Hibiya.

Anzu began to laugh. She leaned against the wall for support and laughed and laughed until tears fell from her eyes. It was funny! "Where do you go to get honey on this island?" Anzu asked through her hysterical laughter, ignoring the stares from her male housemates.

"What?" Bakura said incredulously. "Have you gone mad, Girl?"

"Honey!" Anzu giggled, "Isn't that part of the next verse? Six Little Duel Monsters were playing with a hive! So my question is perfectly sane! Where do we find the honey?"

Malik tugged on Ryou's shirt to get his attention. "I do think she's lost her mind!" he declared cheerfully. "Can we go find it? It'll be fun!"

"Not now, Malik," Ryou hissed softly, "Just be quiet."

"Oh come on!" Anzu insisted. "We're all in the same boat here!" She cackled again and shook her head. "What do any of us have to hide any more? We all know we killed the person who the Voice accused us of! What's the point of denying it? We're all going to die any way!"

"Don't say that," Ryou said, "We still have a chance."

"Ryou," Anzu giggled, "Come now, you go first! How did you kill her? Did your sister make you angry that day? Did you throw a toy into the road and tell her to go after it? Did you cause her death?"

Bakura growled low in this throat as Ryou turned ashy pale and swayed unsteadily on his feet. He caught Ryou as he stumbled and glared at Anzu who remained unfazed at the suspicious looks everyone was giving her. "Shut up," Bakura warned her, his eyes blazing. She was hurting his hikari. People who did that died. "You say one more thing to him and I swear I will cut out your vocal cords and fly them from the roof."

"Ewww," Anzu squealed. She bounded forward and latched onto Yami's arm. "Don't let him do it, Yami!"

Yami shook her off and slapped her hard across the face. "Snap out of it, Anzu!" he demanded. "Get a hold of yourself."

Anzu staggered back and blinked, her hand going to her bright red cheek. "I'm, sorry," she stammered, "I don't know what got into me." She sat down heavily and held her head in her hands. "I don't feel well," she admitted with a sniffled sob.

"It's just shock," Seto said knowingly.

"It's okay, Anzu," Ryou said, sitting down next to the girl and taking her hand, patting it kindly. "We're all afraid."

"I don't want to die," Anzu whispered. She buried her head into his shoulder. "I don't want to die."

"Let's try to think about this logically," Seto said, pacing the floor and stepping over Malik who was stretched out on the floor like a Great Dane before the fire. "We must examine the manner and times of death. Perhaps there is a pattern."

"Out of the six deaths, three were during the night when the victims were alone," Yami said, "Two were committed in times of great confusion when there were too many people moving around to pinpoint one as the killer. The last one, we are not sure when it happened, but the person was again, separated from the others in the house."

"And in those deaths, there were three poisonings, one strangulation, and two deaths by violent weapons," Seto finished. "Are we missing something?"

"Yes," Bakura hissed from where he was leaning against the wall. "You've forgotten that one of each yami and hikari pair has been killed." He paused and looked over at his pale light. "Except for Ryou and I."

"What is your point?" Seto asked. "Are you confessing? I have noticed and I find it odd that you remain the only ones still whole of the split spirits."

"No, you ass," Bakura snapped, "I am worried that we may be the next target. That _Ryou_ may be the next target."

"Any one us could be next," Yami said, exasperated, "Just make sure that you keep a close eye on him."

"Like you did for Yugi?" Bakura yelled. "Yeah, that worked reeeal well!"

With a strangled growl, Yami leapt at Bakura, but Seto jumped in the way, restraining him. "Stop it!" he shouted, "Both of you stop it!" He looked around the room. "Malik, help me!"

Malik hopped up and tackled Yami to the ground, hugging him around the waist. "Yami!" he squealed happily.

"So what do we do now?" Ryou asked softly when the commotion had calmed enough for him to be heard and the yamis had been separated to opposite sides of the room. "Kaiba?"

"We have to search the house," Seto said. "There were a lot of weapons in that safe box. Hiding one small gun is one thing, this is a totally different matter." He looked around to make sure that everyone was listening. "We'll split into two groups."

"Ryou is with me," Bakura said immediately, glaring at everyone and daring them to challenge him.

"Fine," Seto agreed as he smartly didn't want to fight with an irritated yami. "Ryou, Bakura, and Malik in one group. Me, Yami, and Anzu in the other."

--

TBC

--

--

--

Six Guests Remaining

--

The Inspector


	8. Running, Seventh Death

And Then There Were None

By The Inspector

**Chapter Eight:** Running, Seventh Death

.

**Disclaimer:** Same as always. I don't own anything.

.

Character Death. Duh.

.

---

Six. One half of the total they started with. Who would be next? Seto shook his head glanced back at Yami who was searching the linen closet on the third floor. Anzu was standing next to him, watching the proceedings.

No one would search any room without the others incase one of them was the murderer and would lie about finding anything. But Seto had low expectations for the search, despite what he had said earlier. Unknown hadn't been caught yet; had ingeniously gotten away with six murders. He (or she) wouldn't be so sloppy now.

"Are you finished yet?" Seto snapped when Yami paused searching for the third time and got a distant look in his eyes. "You are wasting my time. Let's go!"

Yami glared at him and moved the last few sheets that Isis had folded neatly. "There's nothing here," he said coldly, closing the closet door. "Next room."

Seto pushed opened the door and looked around. It was a bedroom like all the others. But unlike the ones that people were, or had been, staying in, this room was missing the taunting little poem.

"Check everywhere," Seto instructed needlessly. The others nodded and he marched over the bed and began stripping off the sheets. Feeling like a looter, he checked the pillows for odd lumps and looked under the bed.

He was just moving onto the box spring when the when the door was thrown open with such force that it hit the wall and bounced back a bit. Bakura stood in the doorway, breathing hard and clutching a stitch in his side.

Anzu took a hesitant step forward from the fireplace that she had been inspecting, careful not to get to close, just incase. "Bakura?" she asked slowly, "What's wrong?"

"And why the hell aren't you with your group?" Seto added. Unlike Anzu, he wasn't one to mesh words and got straight to the point and the question that they all were thinking.

"It's Malik," Bakura growled, his nails digging into the wood of the frame. "He and I got into a fight and he just took off."

A stunned silence followed as minds tried to understand what they had been told. Malik. Malik was loose in the house.

"Shit," Seto cursed, dropping the sheets. Why had he thought that Bakura could keep Malik under some sort of control? Only Rishid and Isis could do that, and they were both dead. There was that headache coming back. "Which way did he go?"

"I don't know," Bakura said with a scowl. "We were searching the library. After I lost him, I figured it would be best to give you a warning before he leaps out of nowhere and tries to bite one of you like some rabid dog."

"Alright," Yami said, cutting the thief off, "We need to find him, and fast before he can get into trouble." The thing was, how do you understand the mind of a psycho? How could you predict what he was going to do?

"Anzu," Bakura said, grabbing her arm as she tried to follow Yami out of the room, "Ryou's alone downstairs, please, can you go stay with him?"

Anzu almost refused, scared to go anywhere without another person, but the desperation in the normally cold spirit's voice moved her. Even he had some sort of a heart. And Ryou was her friend. "Sure," she agreed at last.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Seto cut in. "You should stay with Yami." He still didn't trust Yami, but he was less likely to kill the girl than Bakura or a crazy Malik thinking he was playing some warped form of hide and go seek.

"But what about Ryou?" Bakura insisted, his eyes narrowing. "He can't stay down there alone."

"I'll be okay," Anzu said, surprising herself by sticking up from Bakura. Personally he still scared her a little. "Ryou's my friend, we'll be okay staying together."

"Whatever," Seto said, turning away. "Do as you wish. It makes no difference to me." He just hoped she was right.

Nodding, Anzu turned and hurried to the stairs. She was scared of being alone in the house. But she'd only be alone until she found Ryou. Then she'd be safe. As long as she didn't run into Malik on her way.

Seto watched Anzu leave and shook his head once, wincing as pain exploded behind his eyes. What he wouldn't give to stock pile some food and just stay in his room for the rest of this little game. "We're going to have to split up," he told Yami and Bakura. "Malik could be anywhere. He's dangerous. We can't let him wander around like this. The sooner we find him, the better."

"Agreed," Yami said. Personally, he felt safer when he was alone. "I'll go left. Kaiba, right. Bakura, you check the next floor. Then we'll meet back here in ten minutes and search the lower floors."

Seto watched Yami disappear around the corner of the hall and then turned to the right. He took three steps before dizziness caused his world to dip and swirl. Sitting down before he fell, he took a few deep breaths, waiting for it to pass.

---

Anzu looked both ways and glanced behind her, making sure no one was trying to sneak up on her, before she ran to the library and peeked inside for the white haired boy. "Ryou?" she called. "Ryou, are you here?"

Cautiously, Anzu took a few steps inside. Oh God, please don't let him be already dead! Bakura would most certainly hold her responsible and she really wanted to keep her limbs and vocal cords.

"Ryou?" she tried again, hating how her voice had taken a high, thin tone. She peered over the desk and looked behind the couch, but he wasn't there. No body on the floor, nothing at all. He simply wasn't in the room. But why?

A floorboard creaked somewhere above her head and she jumped nervously. Malik had fought with Bakura, right? What if he was coming back to get him? Wait, of course! With Malik on the loose, Ryou wouldn't stay where the crazy boy was sure to come back. He would want to get as far away from the library as possible. So why was she still here?

Shivering and with a new sense of urgency, Anzu turned to go when a soft humming caught her attention. No, not humming. More like a whirl or buzz. Anzu shot around and stared in horror at the mantel over the fireplace. Sitting there, innocent as could be in a small glass jar was a single, fuzzy, black and yellow bumblebee.

She only heard the shot from behind her a second before she fell. Her blood spread out around her body and she knew no more.

---

Yami jumped when he heard the gunshot echo in the house. He turned around and ran out of the room he had been searching for Malik in to the stairs. Looking around, he saw that Kaiba was already on the second floor.

Seto heard the hurried footsteps behind him and he paused on the stairs and turned around, mentally registering Yami's presence as alive, before continuing down. Another one. They had lost another one. Seto let Yami catch up to him. And then they heard it.

"Ryou! Ryou where are you!? Ryou, answer me damn it!"

Yami jumped down the last of the stairs and nearly collided with Bakura as he ran frantically from room to room. "Bakura stop!" Yami demanded, grabbing the once tomb robber and giving him a hard shake. "Stop."

But Bakura barely seemed to recognize him. His eyes were wide and full of distress. He looked, so lost. "Where's my hikari?" Bakura asked, his eyes unfocused and darting everywhere as if expecting Ryou to appear. "Where's my light?" The loss in his fellow yami's voice caused Yami's breathing to hitch. No yami should lose his light.

"Bakura," Yami said slowly, knowing the pain he was feeling, "I'm so sorry."

"No," Bakura shook his head wildly in denial. He wouldn't let Ryou be gone. Never! "No no NO! He's my hakari. You CAN'T have him!"

"Bakura. Look what I found."

Bakura looked up and Seto shoved Ryou at him. A scared, shaking, but still very much alive Ryou. Bakura caught him by sheer reflex and hugged him close, quieting instantly and slipping back into sanity now that he had his light with him.

"I found him trying to get out of the closet in the den," Seto explained to Yami as Bakura seemed to be ignoring everyone but Ryou at the moment.

Yami's brow furrowed in confusion. He had been so sure that Ryou was the one killed. "But we heard a shot," he reminded Seto, perplexed. "If Ryou is here, who's not accounted for?"

"Malik and Anzu," Seto said with a tired sigh. He knew which one was dead. It was obvious. "Are we really going to even guess?"

"Ryou," Yami said, turning to the boy, "Bakura sent Anzu to stay with you. Did you ever see her?"

Ryou shook his head frantically and clung to his yami. "I-I was scared being alone. Half the murders happened when someone was alone. I went and hid. I thought; if he can't find me, he can't kill me." Ryou swallowed hard and buried his head against Bakura. "And then I heard the shot."

Seto stalked across the hall and pushed opened the door to the library. Damn. Damn it all. "Six little Duel Monsters playing with a hive," he recited, looking back at the group. "A bumblebee stung one and then there were Five." He reached down and picked up the fragments of a little Magician of Faith. "She's dead. And the gun is gone. Presumably back to it's hiding place where it was before."

Anzu was dead. Dead. Yami's vision was tinted red and he could barely breathe. He was sick of this. "Where's Malik?" he hissed. When he got his hands on him, he was going to kill him. His light was dead and now all his friends were dead; every last one of them. He had nothing left except revenge. He couldn't rest until his dear Yugi was avenged. "Where is he?"

"I don't care," Bakura said simply as he tangled his hands in Ryou's hair. "I don't care. Let him rot in whatever dark hole he's found."

Ryou squirmed in his yami's hold and looked up at him with admonishing eyes. "Bakura, he may not have done it," Ryou protested.

"What!?" Bakura shrieked. "How can you SAY that?"

"Because he's right," Seto groaned. "We were all moving around. Any one of us could have slipped downstairs, shot Anzu, and then run off."

"But where's Malik?" Yami insisted, trying to bring the focus back to the problem at hand. "We have to find him."

"You go look for him," Bakura snarled, baring his teeth. "I'm going to take care of Ryou." Ryou was all that mattered to him. Everything else could go to hell.

"Oooh, is there something wrong with Ryou?"

All heads swiveled around to see Malik bound out of the kitchen with a half wrapped bar of chocolate in his hand. Sauntering over to them, he held the candy with his teeth and put his hand on Ryou's forehead, not noticing that Bakura yanked his hikari away as if Malik was going to eat him.

"Where were you?" Yami hissed with fury. The wayward hikari had them running all over the house, giving the killer a chance to take out another of their dwindling numbers. In Yami's eyes, Anzu's death, even if he hadn't killed her, was Malik's fault.

"Getting food," Malik said cheerfully, waving the chocolate around. "Rishid didn't make breakfast this morning."

"Anzu is dead," Seto snapped. Malik's attitude was really getting to him. It bothered him in his carelessness over the deaths of his family.

Malik blinked and for a second it seemed like he understood, then he smiled lazily. "Okay," he said and took another bite of his sweet.

"I don't believe this," Bakura hissed in disgust. "I've had enough of this circus for today. I'm taking my hikari to his room."

But at his words, Malik squealed and leapt forward, latching his hands around Bakura's leg. "My new yami is so nice to me!" he cooed.

"For the last time!" Bakura bellowed, kicking Malik away, "I am not your yami! I have Ryou as my hikari! I do not want you!"

Malik's face darkened and an angry fire lit his eyes. "It's not fair," he hissed. He glared at Ryou and the small light shrank back in his yami's arms. "Why should Ryou have you and I can't have my yami?" He dropped his chocolate and ground it into the floor with his heel. "You're supposed to be alone. Like me, like Yami. It's only a matter of time."

"Fuck you," Bakura snarled and dragged Ryou up the stairs with him. A few minutes later they heard a door slam. And even though they couldn't hear it, they knew the locks were being turned. Bakura would not let Ryou out of his sight again, that was for sure.

Seto shook his head. It was all too much. Only five left. Only four were not the killer. "I need to think," he said and dashed up the stairs to his own room, leaving Yami alone with Malik. Once inside his room, Seto slammed the door, then opened it and slammed it again.

How could he have been so stupid! It was all his fault. He should have sent Anzu with Bakura and Ryou. He had assumed that putting Malik and Yami in one group would have been too dangerous. They were both unstable from the loss of their other half. But he forgot to take into account Malik's reaction to seeing a yami and hikari pair, still whole and unharmed. How could he be so blind to the whole issue? His head was killing him.

Yami shook a very clingy Malik off, the lost hikari having attached himself to the closest yami in his vicinity, and went up to Yugi's room, bypassing his own without a second thought. He missed his light. He needed his light. Everything was so dark without him.

And he hated seeing Bakura with Ryou. He _hated_ it. It was like some primal creature in his blood that curled it's claws into his stomach. It wasn't fair that they still had each other when his own little innocent light was gone. It wasn't fair.

.

TBC

.

.

.

Five Guests Remaining

.

.

The Inspector


	9. Watching, Eighth Death

And Then There Were None

By The Inspector

**Chapter Nine:** Watching, Eighth Death

.

Disclaimer: Not mine. No suing. Very simple.

.

Character death. Don't kill ME for this one. We all knew he had to go at some time.

---

.

Yami starred out the window, seeing but not seeing anything. A part of his mind noticed that the weather was looking better and by tomorrow they would be able to swim to shore to get away from the accused island. The other part of his mind was just numb with a broken record going around and around chanting, 'Yugi, Yugi, Yugi.'

Everything was so cold. It felt like he was dying slowly on the inside, his blood congealing in his veins with every breath. How long could a half last without being a whole? How long did he have until he simply stopped moving and gave up?

Not until Yugi was avenged. 'Yugi, Yugi, Yugi.'

He had promised his poor light that. The one who killed him would pay for what he did. Yami just wished he knew why. Why would someone kill such a sweet, pure life? And who?

Kaiba, Malik, Ryou, and Bakura. It was one of them. And until he guessed right, another of them would die in some horrible way, gruesomely taking one of his suspects off his list only through death. 'Yugi, Yugi, Yugi.'

What a sick, sick game Unknown was playing. Little pieces of glass representing each life, a poem with an element he (and with Anzu dead he knew it had to be a he) delighted in including in each death, and always the taunt of being one of them.

Dear Ra, there were only five left. So many dead that it was starting to feel normal. Had they left Rishid and Anzu where they had found them? He'd have to get Kaiba and Bakura to help him take their bodies up to the attic to be with the rest. The rest. Ishtar, Honda, Jou, Isis, Rishid, Anzu, and…his own precious hikari. 'Yugi, Yugi, Yugi.'

"You can't just keep me here!"

Yami lifted his head off his hands slowly and blinked dully at the wall that separated Yugi's room from Ryou's.

"You can't put me in a plastic bubble, Bakura! I refuse to stay locked up in here!" Ryou yelled.

"It's for your own good!" Bakura shouted back. "I'm trying to protect you! There's a fucking crazy MURDERER running around and I don't want to see you die!"

"Yeah, you'd know a LOT about murder, Bakura." Yami nearly flinched at the anger in the hikari's voice and crept over to the wall. "And I've been covering for you!"

Yami heard the slap and Ryou's yelp and pressed his ear closer to the wall. As it was, he didn't need to, he could hear Bakura perfectly. "You little bitch!" Bakura roared, "How dare you!?"

"How dare I?" Ryou shouted back, and Yami could hear the tears in his voice, "No Bakura, how dare you?"

Yami heard the door open and slam, twice. His heart beating wildly, he sank back from the wall and took a deep breath as his mind raced to sort out what he had heard. Ryou said he had been covering for Bakura…covering for what? He knew Bakura was no stranger to death, but had he been so active in murder too? Oh why did he ever allow Ryou to take the Sennen Ring back?

Because he had to. Ryou begged him to be allowed to have Bakura back. And even through Ryou wasn't his light, the eyes were too similar and seeing those tears run down his pale face too sorrowful to refuse. If Bakura had killed Yugi, he would never forgive himself.

But how could he prove it?

Yami was suddenly jerked out of his thoughts when he heard the scream. High and terrified, it echoed in his heart. A scream that called out the soul's final fear before the life could extinguish. And then it stopped and he heard a horrible thud. Yami sat frozen, not knowing what to do, for exactly how long he was not sure. Then the other scream started.

It wasn't like the first scream that had been relatively short. This was a scream of rage, denial, pain, and fear that went on and on, heralding the torment of loss. It was a ragged scream, punctuated by sobs and wordless cries. Like a heart breaking.

As if in a dream, Yami opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. Malik and Seto stood looking over the banister. And Yami couldn't make his voice work.

At his approach, Malik looked up and grinned. "Ryou fell," he said sweetly. "Five little Duel Monsters running across the floor. One slipped and fell and then there were Four."

Pushed, thrown over like a gravity experiment. Yami shook his head and looked over the banister. In the middle of the front hall Bakura cradled Ryou's limp body to his chest, shaking his head and crying out his refusal to believe his light was dead. "No," he howled, burying his face into Ryou's hair, "No, no, no, no!"

Slowly, as if in a dream, Yami made his way down the stairs until he was standing in front of the tomb robber. Vaguely he registered the ceramic wings separated from the body of a little Change of Heart. "Bakura," he said as kindly as he could, "Give me Ryou."

"No," Bakura whispered, dragging Ryou with him as he turned his back on Yami. "He's mine. My light."

Yami tugged on Bakura's shirt and tried to turn him around, but the distressed spirit whipped his head around and it was only by very quick reflexes that Yami did not get his fingers bit. "Mine!" Bakura snarled.

"He needs to be taken upstairs to be with the others," Yami said, trying to get through to Bakura. It would be foolhardy to try to take the dark spirit's hikari, but he couldn't carry the body everywhere with him. "Upstairs in the attic, where he can rest."

All that could be heard for a moment was the harsh breathing of the Ring spirit as he pet Ryou's snowy hair that fell in tangles over his shoulder. "I'll take him," Bakura rasped at last, clutching Ryou closer to his chest, "Myself."

Deciding that was as good as he was going to get, Yami sighed and stood up, leaving Bakura alone with the remains of his hikari. Slowly he made his way up the stairs, every step heavier than the last.

"That's it," he said when he saw Seto waiting for him at the top. "All the hikari and yamis have been separated. Ryou and Bakura were our last pair."

Seto shook his head. "It doesn't make sense," he confessed. "The final people living are all half a spirit. Except for me. There are two yamis and one hikari. And me. I don't belong in this group."

But Yami only shrugged. "It's so sad," he whispered, looking over his shoulder. "Too see a hikari die."

Seto sighed, knowing Yami's mind was drifting again. "I locked Malik in his room," he said. There was no reason to let him run around while there was no one to look after him. Really, half spirits were a pathetic bunch. Like small children who had trouble doing anything for themselves. And now he had perhaps the most dangerous of them all to contend with.

Without Ryou, who knew what Bakura would do? Seto could only hope that the shock of losing his light would last until they could get off the island. He had no doubt that all three of the severed halfs would have to be confined to small white rooms for the remainder of their natural or unnatural lives.

"We need to bring Rishid and Anzu upstairs," Yami said at last, barely responding to Seto. Ryou's death was bringing back to many memories of Yugi's demise. "They shouldn't be left to lie out."

"I already did," Seto snapped impatiently. "While everyone was sulking in their rooms I took care of it." He nearly groaned aloud when he saw Yami's attention begin to waver again. "Yami! Pay attention!"

Yami blinked twice. "Yes, Seth?" he said dully.

Seto felt his blood suddenly run cold and his heart skipped a beat. "What did you call me?" he whispered fiercely.

Yami shook his head, like dismissing cobwebs. "Kaiba," he answered, "Of course. What else would I call you?"

"Never mind," Seto snapped. "Never mind."

---

It was nearly dark by the time Seto decided the best way to survive the night with so few people left alive was to have them all stay in one room. Blankets were brought in and arranged out on the floor.

"Now," Seto said, "We'll all take turns to be on watch for three hours. I'll go first. Then Bakura, then Yami, and then Malik."

He had half a mind to refuse Bakura a watch. The spirit had been very quiet, yet restless all day. Where Yami and Malik had become distressed and upset, after the initial shock Bakura had simply withdrawn into himself, looking over his shoulder every now and then, flexing his hands with a nervous energy that put Seto on edge.

With a sigh, Seto made himself comfortable with his back against his bed and let his mind drift. He had heard the shouting between Ryou and Bakura right before Ryou had died. There had been no way to miss it. Had Bakura killed his light to keep him quiet? What had Ryou meant?

But it didn't make sense! Bakura had been trying so hard to keep Ryou safe and alive. Why would he suddenly go all psycho and attack him? It was a complete turn around!

Yet, Ryou said that he was covering for him. What other motive could Bakura have for killing his light? There was none. And Ryou had warned him about the passionate tempers that yamis have. Could Bakura have killed his light in a fit of anger? That would certainly explain why he had killed everyone else; he hated them all.

Seto ran his fingers through his hair. Had he been distracted from identifying the real killer by the insanity of the other two that was so much more attention getting?

Gah! It was too much. Seto knew that sleep would be a long time coming.

---

Bakura stirred and opened his eyes. Yami was on watch, starring out the window like the beacon of a lighthouse. Rolling over, Bakura was surprised to see Kaiba still awake. "Your shift ended a long time ago," he informed him.

"I know," Seto said calmly, "I don't sleep much."

Bakura lay back down with a huff and closed his eyes. He didn't move again for a couple hours. When he did, he saw that Malik was on watch. The sky was still dark, but within an hour or two it would lighten into day.

Checking, Bakura saw that Kaiba was finally asleep and he rolled silently to his feet with the grace of a cat and moved away from the other sleepers.

"Where are you going?" Malik whispered, tilting his head to the side.

"Bathroom," Bakura hissed back, pushing past him to the adjoining room. "Don't wake up the others."

Malik nodded in agreement and resumed his watching of the other two. Yami had woken him up from a wonderful dream. He was at home. There was a fireplace and Sister and Rishid played chess while he put together a puzzle. Ishtar lay stretched out beside him, playing with a little gray kitten and adding a piece to the jigsaw every now and then. They were all, so happy.

Malik yawned loudly before letting his eyes drift shut and going back to that dream where _IT_ was the reality and this whole thing was the dream. A nightmare. And in a few minutes Ishtar would wake him up by jumping on his bed, and Isis would be making pancakes in the kitchen. She was cooking because it was Saturday and it was her turn and Rishid was reading the paper at the table, and he would always hand him the comics.

He just had to wake up.

---

Seto woke first, opening his eyes in the morning light. Rolling over, he made a mental note of Yami and Malik. But where…Seto pushed off the blankets and looked around for Bakura. But he didn't see the spirit anywhere. "Malik!" he hollered, making the lunatic open his eyes, "Where's Bakura!?"

"Ummm," Malik mumbled sleepily as he buried his face back into his pillow. "He went to the bathroom. About, five hours or so ago, I think."

"Great," Seto cursed under his breath. Not only had they all overslept, they were missing the dangerous one. "Just great. Yami!"

"What?" Yami asked with a yawn. It was too early to get up.

"Bakura is gone," Seto said, scrambling to his feet. "And Malik fell asleep on his watch."

Now awake, Yami turned and glared at Malik. "You didn't," he hissed.

"Sorry," Malik mumbled, already half asleep.

While Yami worked on dragging Malik's ass out of bed, Seto went to inspect the bathroom. There was no blood on the floor, but the window was open. He explained his discovery to Yami (Malik was still pretty much out of it) as he returned to the room. "He went out the window. He's got to be running. The killer wouldn't take the time to drag the body anywhere. He leaves them where he kills them."

"So," Yami breathed, his blood coming to life, "It's Bakura."

Seto nodded seriously. "It looks that way."

Yami grabbed his clothes, his eyes suddenly sharper than they had been since Yugi had died. "We have to find him," Yami said, "We can't let him get off this island alive." His gaze turned hard. "He has to pay for his crimes."

.

.

TBC

.

.

.

Four Guests Remaining

.

.

Author's Note: Seth is something the name they use to refer to the High Priest Seto from Yami's past.

.

Until Next Week!

.

.

The Inspector

.


	10. Red, Ninth Death

And Then There Were None

By The Inspector

**Chapter 10:** Red, Ninth Death

.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. I don't make money. Please don't sue meeeeeeee. Thank you!

.

Character Death a given.

---

.

Yami burst out the front doors, Malik and Kaiba somewhere behind him. But Yami didn't slow down or wait for them to catch up. His mind was caught in a single thought. He was going to _kill_ Bakura. He was going to make him suffer for all the pain he had caused.

Yami slipped around the side of the house and looked up at the window of the room they had all stayed in the night before. The ivy growing up the side of the house showed extensive trauma; as though someone had used it to climb down the side of the house. Which they had.

"Yami!" Seto snapped as he appeared around the side of the house, dragging Malik along with him. "Slow down! May I remind you that I am playing babysitter to this nut-case and it takes a little while to move him anywhere?"

"This is not your fight," Yami hissed back, his eyes fastening onto the footprints in the sand that headed down to the beach. "His blood is mine. Go back inside with Malik."

"Not likely," Seto scoffed as he tightened his hold on Malik's shirt as the lost hikari tried to pull away to go look at something shiny that had caught his eye. "We can't risk getting separated and having Bakura slip back into the house."

"Come then," Yami dismissively. "Just don't slow me down." He couldn't stop now. He just hoped that he wasn't too late. If Bakura had already tried to swim to shore, there might not be another chance. The thief was an expert at blending in and disappearing.

Hurrying down the beach, Yami followed the prints in the sand. His heart beat fast in anticipation. This would be one murder no one would morn.

Seto shook his head and followed the angry spirit. He really pitied Bakura. When Yami caught up to him, there would be no mercy shown.

"Seto?"

Seto jerked to a halt and looked at Malik. It gave him the creeps hearing his first name coming from the mouth of the insane hikari. Only his brother was allowed to use that name. Mokuba. Would he ever see him again?

"Seto?"

"What?" Seto asked, pulling his shirt out of Malik's hold.

"Is it Saturday?"

Seto blinked and then scowled. Of all things! He felt like HE was the one going crazy! "Yes," Seto snapped, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Yes, today is Saturday."

Malik looked around, searching, and then looked back up at Seto. "Then where is Isis?" he asked.

"What?" Seto asked in half disbelief. How could he not understand that his sister was dead? He had SEEN the body. Was if just outright denial?

"Isis," Malik repeated. "If it's Saturday, she makes pancakes."

"Malik," Seto sighed, but he couldn't bring himself to remind him about his siblings' deaths. "Maybe," he said at last, "She'll have them made when we get back to the house."

Malik beamed brightly and scrambled after Yami's retreating form. "Hurry, Seto!" he called. "If we don't, Ishtar will eat all the syrup!"

Yami growled under his breath as he floundered and sank in the sand. The prints were getting closer to the water and he feared losing his prey. It couldn't happen, he wouldn't let it! Bakura wouldn't have tried to swim to shore until light. And the waves were still high, even the thief wouldn't be stupid enough to brave such waters. The distance alone would exhaust him without the bad conditions of the water.

Cursing aloud, Yami scrambled up the side of one of the large boulders as the prints led away from the sand to the rocky side to scan for the Ring Spirit. How was he going to track him when there no prints to follow?

Yami jumped down over his perch, and nearly stepped on the body lying at the base. Bakura's hair was matted and a dusty brown color where blood had dyed the strands. He lay on his side, pulled away from the water, and the dismembered wings from his own Change of Heart rested beside him in the sand.

Like a burst bubble, all Yami's anger and adrenaline vanished and gasped for breath before becoming violently sick.

Seto heard someone throwing up and looked down from the rocks. From her perch, he saw Yami losing what little was in his stomach and Bakura's body beside him. Pain blossomed in his head and he let go of Malik's arm. "Yami," he winced, "What did you do?"

"I didn't," Yami keened as he wiped this mouth with the back of his hand, "I found him like this."

Seto frowned skeptically and jumped down to take a closer look at the body. "You're right," he said, "The blood is dry, and he's already cold." He turned Bakura over and pointed out where his scull had been smashed. "You couldn't do this with your hand. You'd need some sort of bat or cub."

"Why is this happening?" Yami moaned as he clutched his head in his hands. "Why is this so hard?"

"Because we were supposed to suspect him," Seto pointed out as he stood and dusted his hands off. "Four little Duel Monsters going out to sea. A herring swallowed one and then there were Three. A herring, a RED herring is another way to say a false lead. We were supposed to suspect Bakura and have our attention distracted from the real killer."

"And now Bakura's dead," Yami said flatly.

"Yes," Seto said with a sigh. "He's dead, and there are only three of us left. The murderer must have followed him outside last night," he moved down to the water and inspected what he found there. "Look," he pointed to vague impressions left in the wet sand, "He walked back in the water so that we can't tell anything from his footprints."

"Seto!" Malik whined from over their heads, "I'm hungry!"

Seto shook his head and began walking back the way they had come. He could hear Yami scrambling up the rocks behind him and trusted him to either bring Malik with him, or kill him off.

Because any theory he had about why only halfs were left had been shot out of the water. He had expected to be the next target until only those who shared their existence were left. But now both Ryou AND Bakura were dead. He felt so confused.

But at least Ryou and Bakura were together again, even if it was only through death. He knew that the restless souls of Yami and Malik too, would only be settled when they died. Because they couldn't cope being in a world without their other half.

Seto shook his head and sighed. What he wouldn't give to be home, at work, anywhere but here.

.

.

TBC

.

.

.

Three Guests Remaining

.

.

The Inspector

.


	11. Claws, Tenth Death

And Then There Were None

By The Inspector

**Chapter 11:** Claws, Tenth Death

--

Disclaimer: The characters are not mine, they never were.

The name of the game Character Death.

--

Yami trudged back towards the house, lost in his own thoughts. He only looked up when Malik broke away from him to run ahead and cling to Kaiba's arm. Kaiba tried to shake him off, but Malik clung like a clamp and he finally gave up. It seemed to Yami that Malik simply exchanged his attachments as they suited him. First his own dark, then Bakura, sometimes Yami himself, and now Kaiba. Why Kaiba, of all people?

Oh, it didn't matter! It was all maddening. It was mad! The whole thing of killing by rhyme was mad! Throwing cards around Honda, killing Rishid with an ax, drugging Isis so that she overslept herself, arranging for a bumblebee when Anzu died! Totally raving insanity!

It was like some horrible child playing a game. The killer was obsessed with detail and making it all fit with the gruesome poem. At least there was no zoo on the island. There was no way the killer could have hidden a bear on the small area.

The whole thing was either insane, or pure genius. Yami studied the two boys still walking in front of him. Insanity and genius. The only question was, which one was it? If he could figure out the motive, he could figure out the killer. But until he knew, he couldn't be sure.

As they all approached the house, Yami slowed down before stopping completely. He looked at the house, dark and foreboding reeking of death, and decided that he wasn't going back in. It felt safer in the sun light. Like he had power over his own life, like he couldn't die.

In the brilliant light of day, he would win this terrible game. Whatever Unknown was after, whether revenge or simply Absolute Justice, he would find him out. And he would defeat him at his own game.

"Kaiba!" Yami called, running to catch up, "Kaiba, wait!"

Seto stopped when he heard Yami calling him and turned back in irritation. "What?" he demanded.

Malik skipped ahead to look at something shiny in the sand and then turned back, waiting for Seto to catch up. Like a child with his security blanket, he was not going far without his newest attachment.

"I don't think we should go back inside," Yami said. "There are too many places and opportunities to be attacked. If we stay outside, there is a less likely chance to be snuck up on."

"Yami," Seto snapped, irritated with the dark spirit's paranoia, "I am sick and tired of this. I did not sleep well last night and I just want to go back in and find something to eat in order to get rid of this headache."

Yami shook his head. "No," he said stubbornly. "If you go inside, then I'm staying out here."

"Then you can keep Malik with you," Seto retorted. "Have fun babysitting the psycho."

"Never!" Yami laughed harshly. "If you're so interested in going back in there, YOU can keep an eye on him."

Malik shuffled his feet in the sand. He was bored, and hungry. When were they going to go inside? Isis would be mad if they were late. And the pancakes were getting cold. He turned over the shiny thing he had found with his foot. He would have to tell Rishid about it, Rishid never let them keep guns around the house. He said that they weren't safe to play with.

The sky was falling.

Yami and Seto's argument ended abruptly when they heard an odd cry and turned in time to see Malik crumple to the ground like a puppet with its stings cut. They ran over to him, but there was no hope. The side of Malik's head was crushed by a great block of marble that lay beside him.

Shaking his head in horror, Yami looked up and saw an open window above them the white curtain flapping innocently in the slight breeze. A cold chill spread through his entire body and his blood froze in his veins. "Whose window is that, just above?" he whispered.

Seto looked up and then at Yami. "Mine," he deadpanned, "And that's the clock from the mantel in my room," he pointed to the hunk of marble, "It's shaped like a bear."

"Three little Duel Monsters walking in the Zoo," Yami whispered, his voice echoing in the depths of the two remaining souls, "A bear hugged one and then there were Two."

Eons passed in seconds, worlds spun and flashed in bright colors, and time itself stood still for a minute or so while two people, just two, looked down at the dead hikari, the gun that lay beside him, and the marble bear clock.

--

TBC

--

Two Guests Remaining

--

The Inspector


	12. Determine, Eleventh Death

And Then There Were None

By The Inspector

**Chapter 12:** Determine, Eleventh Death

Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine

**Character Death.** Sad but true. Don't like, don't read. Right-o, here we go! And remember, the LAST chapter will reveal all!

--

Slowly, very slowly, Yami and Seto looked up at each other. No one moved. All was still as though even their hearts had stopped beating. This was it. This was the end.

"So," Seto said at last, "So that's it, isn't it, Yami?"

A cold shiver caught Yami but he refused to back down. He had a promise to fulfill. "There's no one on the island, no one at all, except us two."

Seto nodded curtly. "Precisely," he said. "So we know where we are, where we stand now, don't we? There's no use pretending any longer."

Yami spared a quick glance at the window and then the hikari at their feet. "How was it worked?" he said, "The trick with the marble bear?"

Seto blinked, irritated and shrugged carelessly. "A simple conjuring trick," he said, "Well set up and cleverly placed."

His tone made Yami's blood burn and he glared at him with all the hatred in his soul. This man, this monster, had killed his light. Had killed the lights of two other darks as well. He didn't deserve to live.

"This is the end," Seto snarled dangerously when Yami remained silent, "Do you understand me? We've come to the truth now and it's going to end."

"End," Yami echoed, "Yes, I understand." He looked down at Malik and shook his head fiercely even as tears crept to the corners of his eyes. Another light gone, snuffed out by this criminal. Just like… "My poor Yugi. My poor little hikari."

"What's this?" Seto sneered, "Regret? Your plea for forgiveness? I have no pity for you, Yami."

But Yami wasn't listening to him. He mind was riveted on the gun the lay beside Malik. To move for it would bring the confrontation to boiling point. Either he would reach it and take his revenge, or Kaiba would get there first and finish him off.

No, Kaiba couldn't win. On Yugi's soul, he promised that he would win this horrible game. It was Kaiba's gun, and he would defeat him with it.

Without a warning sound, Yami lunged for the gun. The second he moved, Seto jumped for the weapon as well. But Yami was too fast and it was in his hand before his opponent could stop him.

Yami towered over Seto, still on his knees from diving for the gun, and kept it trained on him, never wavering.

Seto glared up at Yami, breathing hard. He knew that Death was very near. Nearer than he had ever allowed it to get. He was starring down the barrel of a gun held by an insane spirit who no longer had the balancing factor of his light by his side. Never the less, he was not beaten yet. Unlike the hikari-killing spirit, he still had people to live for. Person. Mokuba. "Yami," he said sternly, "Put the gun down."

The once Pharaoh threw his head back and laughed.

"Yami," Seto said, keeping his hands where he could see them, "Let's be reasonable. Just listen-" And then he sprang.

Quick as lightening and without a thought, Yami squeezed the trigger. The shot echoed in his ears and head and Seto fell heavily to the ground. Holding his breath, Yami took a cautious step forward, gun ready incase his enemy was only wounded, but there was no need for caution.

Seto Kaiba was dead, shot neatly in the heart.

Yami collapsed to his knees with a small cry, wrapping his arms around his chest and rocking back and forth. "It's over, Yugi," he whispered, "It's all over. Two little Duel Monsters sitting in the sun. One got burned up and then there was One."

Relief. Wonderful, exquisite relief. No more fear, no more agony of not knowing who was to blame for the death of his precious little light. He was alone on the island, and there was nothing more to fear.

No fear. Nothing, at all.

--

TBC

--

One Guest Remaining

--

There will be 14 chapters, for those following along

The Inspector


	13. Truth, Twelfth Death

And Then There Were None

By The Inspector

**Chapter 13:** Truth, Twelfth Death

**Disclaimer:** I don't own it, I don't make money, don't sure me. Simple. Thank you!

**Character Death.** Don't say I didn't warn you. Only one chapter left and then the murderer will be revealed.

----

The sun was starting to set when Yami moved at last. He picked himself up slowly, reflexively brushing the sand from his clothes and made his way into the house, leaving Kaiba in the sand where he had fallen.

He didn't think he had the strength to move the two bodies that he had watched grow cold and grey.

No, he would go inside now, and try to forget it all.

How odd, Yami contemplated idly as he pushed open the front door, he had been so dead set against from going in doors earlier. Now there was nothing dangerous about it. The door squeaked eerily in the dark silence of the house.

He realized that he was hungry and sleepy. He had eaten nothing all day and his stomach was curling in on itself. But he was more sleepy than anything. He wanted to curl up on his bed and sleep and sleep and sleep. Maybe tomorrow someone would come and take him off the island, but he didn't really care.

It didn't really matter anymore.

Everything here was quiet, peaceful. There was nothing to be afraid of anymore. He had won. At such a great cost, but he won. That was all that mattered. And it was over now. Above his head the setting sun was painting the sky with golden and purple shades. It was beautiful, like a dream.

Like nothing was real. It was an illusion. A dreamy, pretty façade.

And he was tired, so terribly tired. His limbs ached inside his skin where he couldn't reach and his eyelids were drooping. Time to sleep. Sleep…sleep…sleep. Sleep safely alone on the island. Wasn't the last line in the poem something about being alone?

How peaceful the house seemed too. Even though the dead bodies of all his friends lay away in the dark, he thought he could sleep for a long while.

Bypassing the kitchen, he wanted sleep more than food, he saw a single little Dark Magician standing innocently around the shattered pieces of a Winged Dragon of Ra and a Blue Eyes White Dragon, like he had struck them down himself with his tiny ceramic staff. Yami picked his figure up and laughed.

"We made it," he told the little piece of glass. "You can come with me. We've won." Was he going mad? Maybe. But it was nice in this state of lunacy. Kinda fluffy, like existing in a cloud. Numb and foggy.

The hall was dim in the dying light, and Yami had to force himself up the stairs, each one more difficult to climb than the last. His legs were so very tired and heavy. One little Duel Monster left all alone. How did it end? Oh yes, He went home and then there were none.

Home…home was with his hikari. Yes, Yugi was upstairs waiting for him. And they would go home. Grandpa would be so happy to see them. He heard a soft giggle from above him on the next floor. Yugi.

Then Yami shook his head. "Don't be a fool," he said aloud, his voice echoing oddly in the emptiness. "You are tired. Stop imagining things. Yugi isn't here."

He continued slowly up the stairs. At the top, something fell from his hand onto the carpet, hardly making any noise. But he didn't notice that he had dropped the gun. He was only aware of the little glass figure in his hand and how the empty house didn't seem quite so empty. There _was_ another living presence, he could feel it.

Maybe, maybe Yugi really WAS waiting for him. One little Duel Monster left all alone. What was the last line? Something about going home, or was it something else? He stopped outside Yugi's door and starred at it. His light was waiting for him inside, he was sure of it.

His sweet light. He would take him home and there would be nothing to fear again. And Yugi would smile and scold him for being so worried. Because they always won. They couldn't lose.

Yami opened the door and gasped. There, hanging from a hook in the ceiling, was a rope with a noose. And there was a chair under it, a chair that was just begging to be kicked away. Was this what Yugi wanted? So that they could be together again?

And of course, that was the last line of the rhyme. He went and hanged himself and then there were none…

The little Dark Magician fell from Yami's hand and rolled unheeded and broke against the fireplace. Yes, this was it. This was how it was supposed to be. Moving on automatic, Yami walked forward. This was the end.

"I'll be with you soon, Yugi," he whispered. "One little Duel Monster left all alone. He went and hanged himself and then there were None."

Slowly, Yami climbed up on the chair, his eyes staring blankly like a sleepwalker's. He adjusted the noose around his neck, pulling on the rope a little to make sure it would hold his weight.

Then he kicked the chair away.

When the Coast Guards arrived the next day, they found twelve bodies and no explanation for what had happened. The whole thing baffled the police and medical examiners.

"It's incredible," Rose, the Commissioner at the Domino Police station said irritably. "Twelve people dead on an island and not a living soul on it. It doesn't make any sense!"

"But it happened," Detective Laytner pointed out as he shot a few rubber bands at the ceiling, and then one at Rose for good measure.

"I know that," Rose snapped. "So who killed them?"

"That's the problem, sir," Detective Maclean said, coming up behind them with the case files. "Even the doctor's report didn't shed much light on it. We have two cyanide poisonings, two overdoses of chloral, two gun shots, three assaults to the head, one extensive blood loss due to a slit throat, one strangulation, and one hung."

"We can find no one who knew who had bought the house. The paper trail has disappeared," Laytner added. "As for the record we found on the gramophone, the evidence on those cases is so nonexistent that they were never prosecuted."

Maclean nodded and took a seat on the edge of the desk. "They are all cases that the law was unable to touch."

"Could the killer have swum back to the mainland?" Rose asked. "After he picked everyone off? Twelve is the number for a jury, maybe he had some odd need to fulfill some sort of justice."

"Nope," Laytner said, putting his feet up on his desk. "I already checked. The island is only a mile away from the mainland, but the swells were too high for anyone to swim against. Even if he WAS after justice, our guy has to be one of the dead."

"Anzu Mazaki kept a journal," Maclean said as he shuffled through his notes, "So did Ryou Bakura, and Seto Kaiba made some notes. From the accounts, the deaths occurred in this order: Ishtar, Hiroto Honda, Katsuya Jounouchi, Isis Ishtar, Yugi Mutou, Rishid Ishtar, Anzu Mazaki, and then Ryou Bakura. After that, there is only one thing in Kaiba's notes, 'Bakura has disappeared.'"

"But Bakura was hit on the head from behind," Rose said, "So he couldn't have been the killer."

"Which leaves Yami, Malik and Kaiba," Laytner said, "And Kaiba was shot. The fingerprints we found on the gun in the hall belonged to Yami and Kaiba, and the gun is registered to Kaiba so that makes sense. Malik couldn't have bashed himself on the head with that hunk of marble we found. So our scenario is this, Yami bashed Malik on the head, shot Kaiba and then hung himself or Kaiba hit Malik and then Yami shot him before he hung himself. Both ways, Yami has to be the last one alive. But for one thing contradicts it."

"The chair in the room Yami was found in was not kicked over. It was neatly against the wall. Someone had to have done it_ after_ Yami died. And then we're back at the start, who could it have been?" Maclean pulleded his glasses off his face and rubbed his eyes.

"Someone tidied everything up," Rose said with a sigh. "How else could the three pairs of look-a-likes end up laid out like that? Yugi was beside Yami in one room, Ryou curled up next to Bakura, and Malik next to Ishtar. Between each of them was an item made of gold."

"So theft wasn't a motive."

"But who was is the killer, Sir?"

"We may never know."

In the years that passed, the Murders on Indian Island joined the most famous of unsolved murder mysteries. Books were written on it, examining the motives and possible explanations, movies were made on it, different directors picking who they believed to be the killer.

The CEO of KaibaCorp put millions into trying to find out who had organized the event that had taken his older brother from him, but to no avail. For the dead tell no tales.

And then one day, a fisherman came into the Domino Police Station with a message in a bottle.

--

TBC

--

None left

--

The Inspector


End file.
